Fall Fun Fest

Saturday, October 1, was an incredibly fun day. First, I have to laugh and say that Shawn was playing the song "Wake Me Up When September Ends" that morning, and I thought "oh, we're getting to be about the end of September...not realizing that we were in October! This year has flown! Anyway, on Friday afternoon I heard on WJTL's "Top Five Free Family Fun Activities" (or something like that) that Millcreek Bible Church was having its fall fun fest on Saturday, free for families. It sounded like fun, so I suggested to Shawn that we check it out. He said okay - I love that my husband is willing to try new family events, even if he might have been a little skeptical at first.

That morning was CHILLY! But, we put sweatshirts on and headed out. The first activity we did was the pony rides. I asked the boys if they would like to ride a horse, and they said YES! I was surprised as Joshua has been scared in the past. But, whatever big brother does, little brother follows. So, they both took a turn on these horse rides. At most places, rides like this cost extra money so we never opt to go for it. But, this day worked out well that they both wanted to try it and there wasn't a soul in line.

The first time round the track, they were both a bit nervous but enjoying themselves.

When they were asked if they'd like to go around a second time (since no one was there in line), they both said YES and having survived the first time, the second time around they were all smiles. Shawn & I agreed these were some of the happiest faces we've seen from the boys.

At preschool the following week, one of the "questions of the day" was "have you ever ridden a horse" and Joshua beamed as he said "yes." The way the teacher takes attendance is by asking a question and the students velcro their name tag by the appropriate answer. Some are yes and no questions while others have choices.

The horse rides were a huge hit! The next thing we did was go to the 'pumpkin' bowling. Joshua took the tiny pumpkin, rolled it down the little "lane" and got a STRIKE! He was so proud, he jumped up and down and said "I'm the best striker!" Caleb went next, and didn't even make it to the pins. Eventually, he was allowed to climb up onto the lane and knocked a few down. He was happy with that. :) :) :)

The next station we went to was one where the kids through a football through a hoola-hoop. For each time they made it, they earned a ticket. Both boys were good at this one.

There weren't any lines or very many people there when we got there, which was perfect for our family. The kids were having a blast, and Daddy agreed that it was a lot of fun. The first two things alone made it worth the trip to check out!

Look at the smiles on their faces! I love fall! And our family!

The next event was throwing a hoola hoop around a pumpkin. For each time the kids hooked the pumpkin, they received a ticket. They gave them to me to hold onto. They loved the tickets! They were better than candy. Just the idea of being told "good job" would have even sufficed with the ages of our kids. The fun of the event was more important than any kind of prizes.

We went to another one where the kids were to guess the weight of the pumpkins or which one was heavier. They couldn't lift either one, so they had no idea. It didn't matter at all, though. There was also the option to get their faces painted. Both boys said no to that idea. So, we kept walking and did this event, where you stand over a jar and drop a piece of candy corn from your nose straight into the jar. It must be harder than it looks to aim. Both boys enjoyed it, though, and got tickets for the times their candy corn made it. Again, there weren't very many people around (maybe it's because we got there close to when it started???).

There was another station where there was a small pool, and the kids would pick little gourds out of it. If the gourds said "win" then they got a ticket. Both picked up a "winner." There was another sponge toss that we opted not to do since it was cold out, and one where you were to try to pop balloons by throwing a dart at them. We said no to darts as well. Another area had a lollipop tree, but Shawn said both boys would be a mess, particularly our little Bluke. So, we kept walking by it.

The next one we did was the bean bag toss. Joshua was aiming for the pumpkin, and Caleb was aiming for the apple. For each bag that landed, the boys received a ticket.

We pushed our baby in his stroller down the little hill out of the grassy area and into the parking lot scene, where the boys played some hoops.

Caleb made three shots in 30 seconds, while Joshua made more than I could count. He was pretty "good at this game" which they would both tell us.

The next thing the boys begged to do was the bounce house. A young man named "CALEB" helped our boys climb in after they had taken off their shoes. I asked if there was a time limit (I like to prepare our little guys in advance for what to expect) and the guy said 'no one is in line, but if someone else does come then we just take turns and cycle them out.' Well, the kids were in for a LONG time and no one came so eventually, we gave them the two-minute warning. In the meantime, we were listening to some great Christian music in the background. Here is where I also must say that everyone from the church who was staffing the different stations was SUPER nice. I was sincerely impressed. The event was well-organized, well-run and a TON of fun! The boys bounced and bounced and bounced. When they got out, we saw this clown and they asked if she could make them a balloon. One of the options was to get a 'sword' and they both wanted one. Joshua's was green and Caleb's was yellow. I told them they couldn't hit each other or people, but they could enjoy having their swords. They were thrilled!

Then they each painted a little pumpkin under a tent.

After the painting, we left a donation and got lunch. Shawn ran into a co-worker that he knew who was helping serve the food so he chatted with him for a little while. Then we sat down to eat after thanking God for our food.

After the boys had finished their lunch, we went up to the cotton candy stand. The boys watched as this clown poured in sugar and it came out as fluff. We said that they could share a bag - no need for two!

Then we let the kids redeem their tickets for prizes. They each wanted a little car that was 1 ticket each, a "bopper" balloon that was maybe 2 tickets each (I can't remember, but they didn't charge very much for their prizes compared to all the tickets they gave out!) and we opted to 'buy' a pack of crayons since many of ours are broken for 5 tickets. Then we gave the rest of our tickets (and we had roughly 20 or so more left) to a little one who was counting her tickets. We got in our car and headed home, glad to have had some fun family time on this cool fall day. It was great!