After going to the 2012 Greater Olympia Dixieland Jazz Festival at Saint Martin's University and…read moreall I can say is WOW! This 4-day festival was so much more than I was expecting! I came in thinking I would sit and listen to jazz bands. How wrong I was! The first thing I noticed was the sea of RVs. A large section of the parking area was devoted to them. I walked past the RVs to pay for my ticket at the Marcus Pavilion. I thought the Friday-only price of $40 was a bit steep. Then I saw all of the activities available. There were so many dancers! I had a chance to talk to quite a few of them during the day. It turned out many had driven across several states to attend. I did my best to remember my moves from 10 years a go. I was very relieved to learn lessons were included in the ticket price. I had a great time and will be back for 2013! The 2013 Greater Olympia Dixieland Jazz Festival will be on June 27, 28, 29 and 30.

I've been a volunteer sand castle builder for my company a few times for the "Sand in the City"…read moreevent. It's a super fun way to show pride for your organization, learn some sandcastle/team-building skills, raise funds for charitable organizations - and get some sun and exercise while you're at it! The sandcastle building/sculpting is not a walk in the park, though. There's a lot of steps that go into just getting started. Creating the boxes to solidify the sand with water and hours and hours of tamping, learning the skill of carving away sand piece by piece (not digging into the sand too much), and many other intricacies that go into making sculptures this big! I definitely leave each year with a sore back and sunburn, but also with a sense of accomplishment and the pride of feeling that I did something good for my community.

Sand in the City 2012 was a blast! There were so many things for parents and kids to do! My…read moredaughter made animals out of vegetables, made buttons, painted pictures, made a fridge magnet, a princess hat, a necklace and more! There were too many art and craft projects to count! There was also a tank full of crabs, clams and sea stars for kids to touch. There were so many things to do we almost forgot to look at the sand sculptures! There were quite a few were large and intricate. I was very impressed teams were able to carve away the sand without it crumbling. The only downside to the day was the heat. It was oppressively hot. We were all melting! Don't be like me. Plan ahead. Bring lots of water with you. Enjoy the sand, art, and the Hands on Children's Museum! We'll be back again in 2013 with plenty of water, ice, and a camera. Sand in the City 2013 will take place August 23 - 25.

It was kind of a rip off. Makes you pay entry and then you have to buy tickets for half ass…read morebreweries and Vinyard 's to taste

If I could describe the Procession of the Species in one word?…read more WEIRD. Oh, but weird doesn't really tell you anything about it, right? The Procession of the Species is an annual celebration commemorating all of the animals on the planet. The big hooha takes place around Earth Day. Not knowing what to do when in Washington, I had the bright idea to take the suggestion of one of the tourist magazines I got at a Seattle convention center. I had a rental car, so why not rack up the mileage on it? So, on a sunny/rainy/dry/wet Saturday in Washington, I force-dragged one of my coworkers to drive down to Olympia with me - a little over an hour drive from Seattle. Olympia, wow. Where the heck am I? Pretty, but, um...? Let's save those comments for a separate review. We get to downtown Olympia, and after driving around a bit we finally find parking and walk over to the festivities. Why I wear 5" heels to a parade is beyond me?! Anywho, WOW! No, I mean...WHERE THE HECK AM I?...kind of, WOW?!!! Being born and raised in San Francisco, the best way for me to describe this to those of you who are familiar with San Francisco is... Imagine if you took Haight Street, the busy part of Haight Street...but Haight Street was an entire town of people...a town full of parading people dressed like animals and fairies and cheese and fish and, and, and...and that is what you get in Olympia for their annual Procession of the Species. It is all very weird, but all very interesting...to say the least. As weird as it was, everyone was really cool and seemed really nice. I would highly recommend you see it, at least once, when you are in the area. Why? Because it is an experience! A weird experience, but an experience! LoL! I did buy a very cool hat at this event...I will take a picture of it soon, and add it to my review. =P For more info, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procession_of_the_Species

Oh, Olympia! You amazing little city, you!…read more The Procession of the Species is unlike any parade I've ever seen before, and I'm pretty sure this is a uniquely Olympian event unequaled anywhere else on this planet. It's kind of a peoples' parade in tribute to the animal species of the world. It's not the biggest, the loudest, the flashiest, the weirdest, the sexiest or anything of that sort, but... there's a real heart and soul that goes into this spectacle that just needs to be experienced. Awesome.

Fun event along the waterfront. Lots of crafts and food to try. I think Friday night is the best…read moretime to go. Not as busy.

Strolling around Harbor Days Event. They have a bunch of cute pop up shops, food trucks and more…read more This is a nice place to walk around and just look at arts and shops and eat. We didn't plan it and just happen to see the banner and glad we stopped by. I would do it again.

Sausage Fest is truly a community festival of sausages. Is there accordion music? Check! 3 types of…read moresausage served with warm potato salad and red cabbage? Check! Are there event t-shirts for sale? Triple check! Sausage Fest is a fun all-ages event that has been around for 30 years. It is held at Gull Harbor Lutheran Church. There are two ticket 'donation' prices: One for children and one for adults. The child meal is smaller. It includes one sausage, a roll, warm potato salad, red cabbage, and a dessert. The adult meal includes knockwurst, bockwurst, and kielbasa. Tickets are available at the door or at other community vendors such as Wagner's Bakery. Parking includes the parking lot and the property behind the church. Attendants will show you where to park. When you attend Sausage Fest you should have your ticket in hand when you are ready to be seated. An attendant will take your tickets and place the order for you. You will be seated at a long 'community style' table. There is non-stop accordion and singing. Songs include The Chicken Dance, Roll Out The Barrel, Edelweiss, with some Beatles mixed in. There is a pitcher of water on the table but there is also coffee, tea, and soda available. If you don't mind paying extra you can order the specialty Sausage Fest Root Beer bottled by the Gull Harbor congregation. Honestly, the root beer is one of the reasons I attend! It's delicious and sells out quickly! Assistants are easy to spot because all of the volunteers at the event wear Sausage Fest T-shirts that have an illustration of Martin Luther on the back. If you are unable or uninterested in staying for the event, you can order your meal(s) to go. I was sick one year and had a relative pick up my order. It's a good way to go if you just want a meal without all the hubbub. I for one would rather attend if able. Nothing is better than watching the whole community get down with the Chicken Dance. This event is truly fun for all ages! Other stuff to do at Sausage Fest include buying a t-shirt containing the catchphrase "The Best of the WURST", entering in the raffles for various prizes, and of course, buying Sausage Fest Specialty Root Beer. This event is on the second Friday and Saturday of October. It's a blast and all of the proceeds go to charity. Do you think the sausage-y goodness ends on Saturday? Think again! Any unused food is for sale in bulk the following Sunday after the church service.

I love that they have this fair, but I've been two years in a row and it's an okay fair. They have…read morethe carnival rides and you can pay a la carte or buy a bunch of tickets to spread around amongst the rides. Lots of booths from both vendors selling tchotchkes and insurance companies wanting your business. The disappointing thing is the food. They have lots of options, but for the life of me I'm never thrilled by what I end up getting. Last year I had a disappointing bbq oemthing or other fromt he democrat's booth. This year I tried the greek fries from the gyro place which wa just some fries with tzatsiki sauce and cheese on top. It was okay, but not craveable. I also tried the samosas and the chia lemonade from the greek temple. The samosas were kinda forgettable, but I loved the lemonade with chia seed. I'm gonna try that tomorrow since I have both chia seed and Country time. I got to see some music at the bandstand. I listened to Bless the Ashes (how cool is that name?!?) and that was a good show. I got there at 7 and y the time I made my way to the vendor area, some of the booths were closed, so boo.

Honestly it saddens me how much this fair has changed. I used to like going to Lakefair but now…read morethey've really jacked up their prices. This year pretty much all the rides cost 13 tickets each and the cheapest amount of tickets you can get is 34 for $20. That's like 2 rides for $20 with like a small amount left but what are you gonna do with that? I really wish they would sell all day passes like most fairs do, I don't at all understand why they don't do that. Also food is overpriced but I guess that's typical at any fair the thing that bothers me the most is the ticket system I really wish they would sell all day passes so you can go on as many rides as you want all day.

BRING CASH. It is a super cute and fun event but nearly everything requires cash. There are atms…read morebut the line is pretty long.

For the town of Steilacoom, the apple squeeze is a big deal. The shut down the main road and…read morevarious vendors come to sell their wares and almost anything apple related comes up for sale. I was actually surprised by this event...pleasantly surprised. We got there early as we were told it's good to get their early to get your ticket I press your apples. We got out ticket and walked around the downtown area until our designated time. While walking we came across a petting zoo with a big horse, a goat, cute baby chicks , & a turkey with attitude. They had a game center type set up with bouncy castles and face painting and ring toss type activities on the tennis court. There was also the historical museum, the general store, the wagon shop, the tribal museum, and other things to keep the kids busy as well as lots of other things and history to discover for the adults. There weren't a whole lot of food vendors but it was the typical carnival/fair type food. I opted for boiled corn cob and an apple cider float. What...an apple cider float you ask... Well it's a delicious treat that was kind of sorta invented by one of my friends who also opted to give me the VIP tour of the festivities of the Apple Squeeze. Anyway, when it came time to press the apples we headed over to the presses. There is such a variety in the presses. Some are electric and others are manual so if you really want a taste of the old days, opt for the manual labor ones. Since I hadn't carbed up prior to entering the press and didn't feel like doing an manual labor we took my friend's kid over to the electric press and when our time came my friend's daughter tosses the apples in. There was also a good variety in the apples so that you get a good batch of cider. They have the apples shipped in due to issues with apple worms in the past when people brought their own apples. So you don't have to worry as much about food born illness. You still have to boil the cider when you get home anyway to stave off the possibility of bacteria. I will say that when I got home, the cider is super sweet. I actually had to water it down a bit because I was expecting it to be more tart. It was still delicious though. It was very nice to be able to see parts of Steilacoom that I never get to see since practically every business was open to the public. There was also live music for local musicians. The only that may have been more appropriate would have been like a swap meet or a rummage sale or something, but honestly what was there was sufficient enough for us to kill about 4 hours of time.

Lacey's Children's Day takes place in October at Huntamer Park. It is a FREE all day festival…read morecelebrating children with activity booths and entertainment. Last year's Children's Day was Pirate and Princess themed. It was around Halloween, so there was also a costume contest. The live entertainment was a humorous pirate performance. There was a princess booth were the young ladies smiled for pictures with children. My kid was, of course, first in line for this. The line became quite long and the princesses never for a moment slipped out of their happy voices and sparkly smiles. Timerland Regional Library had a booth providing handmade blank books kids could illustrate. It was definitely a fun booth. They were kind enough to remind me when the Library book sale was. There were SO many craft booths, I can't remember them all. All were great. The main things I remember were the two bouncy houses and the gymnastics bus. My daughter played in them at least 5 times each! If you have a kid this is a great place to take them. It's fun. It's free. It will keep kids occupied for hours.