Bite of Broadview 2013

Each year, our school/parish hosts a fall festival/carnival. It's one of the big fundraisers for the year and the kids LOVE going. It's a three-day event that has carnival rides, crap galore to buy craft vendors, food vendors, a great kids zone filled with bouncy structures, a beer/wine garden, and many musicians.

I'm on the planning committee for BOB and head up the social media efforts. This year, Eric got involved and build a new website for BOB, which looks AMAZING!! You should check out his work! Before Eric stepped in, it was a single page on the church/school's website with 1-2 paragraphs of text. (Fantastic work, Sweetie!!) For my part, I promote the event on Facebook, get it mentioned in local online calendars, and make sure the local schools know about BOB. I also volunteer in the bakery booth (and bake for said bakery booth and the pie booth). Whew!

In years past, we've had GLORIOUS weather for BOB. This year, we were not so lucky. In fact, we had horrible stormy weather all weekend. Did that stop the Olson Four from tromping out and "enjoying" (I use that terms loosely) the carnival? HECK NO! Did that stop us from having dry clothes all day? HECK YEAH!

Eric, Annika, Conor, and I headed over around 10 on Saturday so we could get a good spot for the Caspar Babypants concert. (For those of you who don't know of Caspar, you are SOOOO missing out!) Chris (aka Caspar) is a great entertainer and the kids (and their parents) adore him. He has songs—such as "My flea has dogs" (my personal favorite) and an extended version of "Ring around the rosie"—that are sure to make you smile and tap your toes... no matter your age! Because of the weather, the concert was moved to the gym, instead of being held at the outdoor stage (yippee!!). The kids LOVED the concert and Annika is well on her way to becoming a bona fide groupie. We ran into many friends there, and even got to (finally) meet our friends' baby girl.

After the concert, we braved the elements and had a quick lunch outside. Fortunately, even though we were outside, we were under cover, so it wasn't too bad. That said, we weren't overly inclined to exactly doddle there and wander around the event because of the rain and cold temps. As we (mostly metaphorically) dragged the kids away, we promised the kids that we'd try again later.... just hoping the weather would ease up a bit. (Insert the sounds of Mother Nature's evil cackle here.)

Annika was also invited to her friend Gage's birthday party on Saturday and Eric had a last-minute invitation to the UW football game from my brother Troy, so Conor and I had a quite afternoon at home playing blocks and reading stories. When it was time to pick up Annika from the party, I asked her if she reallllllllly wanted to return to the carnival (hoping the rain would deter her.... no such luck). OH YES!! She definitely wanted to return. So, we went home and geared up for a hurricane; I put both kids in as much waterproof clothing as possible and even pulled my oil skin duster (Yeeeeee haw!!) out of the closet and off we went... back to a waterlogged BOB.

All geared up

The kids had so much fun and didn't even care that a river of rainwater was careening through the carnival. The ferris wheel wasn't accepting passengers due to the wind, much to Annika's dismay, but she soothed her sorrow with other rides. The favorite ride was the little cars that drive around in a circle. I think they rode that ride 6-7 times.... and they had a ball each time! Because there weren't any lines, the kids could just choose another car (for color variety) and take another spin.

Speaking of spin, we also went on the spinning teacups ride. Conor didn't want to spin very much, so Annika had to work on her self restraint by not spinning us too, too much.  Fortunately, unlike the cars, this ride was covered, so we weren't sitting in puddles! 

After our time on the rides and trekking through the fun house (I use that term VERY loosely), it was time to head home and warm up a bit. Conor was heartbroken and so very much wanted to say. Needless to say, I was that mom carrying the screaming, wailing, sobbing, overly tired child out of the carnival. Fortunately, the rain kept most people out of ear shot. (I also bribed them with cotton candy...)

When we got home, the kids peeled off their wet attire. With a "glush", Conor's boots released the suction on his feet. Poor little lamb had SOAKED socks... and even with that, he didn't want to leave the rainy carnival. Why were his socks soaked? One guess....

Conor LOVES jumping in puddles!