Harvest Festival

Every fall, our little town has a harvest festival that is always so much fun! We were very excited to take the kids and figured they would have a great time. Despite all our good intentions, this was just not our day...

We put Emma and Henry in the double stroller and set off. Emma's knee has been bothering her so we thought riding in the stroller would make it so much easier for her. Well, Emma wanted to walk. Since Emma wanted to walk, Henry wanted to walk. So Emma limped along, Henry ran for two seconds and then said, "uppie, uppie" and wanted to be carried, then wanted to got down, then wanted to have "uppie, uppie", and so on, and so on... Emma got in and out of the stroller, Henry got carried, then walked...it took us a looong time to get downtown. As it was lunch time when we finally got the the festival, we decided the first thing to do was to get something to eat. After being asked what they wanted to eat, Henry decided on pizza (with a little helpful suggesting from me) and Emma "didn't know" (surprise, surprise). We quickly found a little spot of grass to sit on and Dan went to get food. Dan and I are both trying very hard to eat as healthy as possible but I have to say that at a festival like this, it is completely impossible to have a healthy meal. We ended up with gyros (hey - at least there was some lettuce and a few tomoto pieces on there!) The kids got pizza, which Henry inhaled, and Emma ate none of. Whenever Henry is not strapped down at mealtimes, he just runs around. He'll get a bite of food, run around while he is chewing, and come back for another bite. This is pretty funny but in a crowded place like we were in, it is very difficult to keep track of little Henry! After eating nothing, Emma wanted a cookie. When Emma wants something and she is tired, hungry or just in a bad mood, she gets very loud and very whiny. This was the situation here. As the tough disciplining parents we are, we of course got Henry and Emma a cookie each. Then it was time to look around at the festival. Well, this was not easy! Again, neither child wanted to ride in the stroller (so glad we brought it to the extremely crowded downtown streets). Both wanted to be carried by Dan...we were quite a sight...me pushing an empty (huge) double stroller, Dan carrying one child with the other at his legs, begging to be picked up. We decided to go home! On our way out, Emma spotted a balloon salesman and politely (hehe) asked to have a balloon. Dan bought her a beautiful pink balloon and was in the process of tying to Emma's wrist when somehow it got loose and blew away. Oh, the horror! Emma was inconsolable! We walked as fast as we could toward home, weaving in and out among the crowds with one or two kids crying/whining/yelling the whole time. The last stall of the Harvet Festival was selling produce so we stopped and bought some yummy fruits and berries. I even got a picture where everything looks just idyllic! Dan and I were completely exhausted by the time we got home (as were Emma and Henry). Being parents can be so stressful.

Of course we wouldn't have it any other way!