Forest Park Summerfest

On June 6th We attended the Forest Park Festival. It was a cool day, so that made it nice for staying outside for a while. The festival ran down a length of several blocked-off streets. Right away the kids were excited because Trader Joe's was handing out free cookies. Sugary treats is the number one way to get to Jared's heart. We meandered through the different booths, saw some face painting, the Wonderworks booth where kids could do crafts, and several musicians. We particularly liked watching the tap dancing demonstration, and Jared seemed proud to drop his dollar into the the donation can.




Jared in particular really enjoyed watching a karate demonstration. It was the first time he had seen anyone do karate and was particularly fascinated by the stick demonstrations. I have a feeling he'll want to participate in this sport when he's older. Alexa seemed to enjoy it, too, but she needed to have Steve hold her the whole time.



Steve's sister, Shara, met up with us later in the day. It'll be so nice having her back living at home now since she graduated a few weeks ago. She's been looking for a job, but hasn't been successful yet, so it's been a little hard for her.



I grabbed a pulled pork sandwich and Steve had a braut. We found tables near the music stage. The kids sort of ate hot dogs and some chips (the little bit they usually eat), but were much more interested in jumping up and down and dancing.




There was a young boy, who looked to be about seven or eight, playing drums with the band. Jared really liked seeing him. Watching that boy made me think again about how we really need to search for a used drum set for Jared. Pots and pans are ok or now, I guess, but I know he would really love a real drum set.




We were going to the pony rides, but the kids were distracted by this giant slide, so we had to go on for a quick ride. I'm such a baby about heights, and even climbing up this ladder which really isn't at all that high started making me feel dizzy and queasy. How am I ever going to walk to the top of the dome in Milan one day?






We ended the afternoon with a movie at the theater. This makes movie number three for the kids (inside a theater, that is). Their first was Wall-e and then they saw Madagascar II. Today's movie was Night at the Museum II. We just saw the first one last weekend, so they were really excited to see this one.





Yet another KISS pose from Alexa!