Fall Festival

Earlier in the day my kids had fun playing with their friends and after they left we were invited by our neighbor, Nick, to go to his church for a 'Fall Festival'. I asked him what time it started and he didn't remember at first and told me he'd find out and call me right back.

At first I tried to think of an excuse for us not to go. I thought I could just tell him Jessi didn't get a nap this afternoon and would probably be miserable and I was going to try to get the kids to bed early to make up for the hectic fun filled day of playing. But, that wasn't really the truth. Jessi didn't get a nap, that part was true, but, in reality, I was the one who was tired from trying to keep after 8 kids while Charlie and Brian were working in the garage. Nick called back and told me what time the fall festival was and I told him it sounded like fun and we'd probably see him there after Charlie got cleaned up.

Charlie and Brian finished up in the garage and then Brian got his kids all packed up in their Hummer and headed back home. Charlie got cleaned up and we all packed in the car and went to the fall festival at Nick's church.

There was a lot going on when we got there. We noticed a small bon fire where people were roasting marshmallow's to make S'mores, a huge moon bounce for the kids, hot dogs and chips for everyone to eat and several people had the trunks of their cars/suv's decorated and had games for kids to play, like at a carnival, and would be rewarded with candy.

After roasting some marshmallow's, bouncing around the moon bounce and playing the carnival trunk games we got in line to go on a hay ride. While we were waiting for our turn the kids got to watch someone make cotton candy. Jessi was completely mesmerized by the process. She couldn't take her eyes off of the cotton candy machine blow pink and blue sugary goodness and watch the man spin it around the stick and put it in bags for everyone to enjoy. All the kids got a bag of cotton candy, and for Jessi, most of it found it's way all over her face.

The truck pulling the hay wagon returned, the first batch of riders got off and it was now our turn. We piled in with several other people and off we went. The kids loved it. Somewhere in the middle of the ride Charlie thought it would be funny to toss of few straws of hay on John and Tabytha. Tabytha and John both threw some back at him and this led to a full fledged hay battle with everyone riding with us. Lots of laughs, giggles and hay everywhere.

When the ride brought us back to the church Charlie and I decided to call it a night and take the kids home to put them to bed. It was already past their bedtimes. We found Nick, told him how much fun we had, thanked him for inviting us and headed home to put the kids to bed.