Running on Empty at the Winter Fest

We were at story hour and A&N’s friends, A&I, were somewhat insistent on having them over for a sleepover. HH was all for it, even though it entailed watcing over 4 kids all by her lonesome, and R and I felt it would be fine, though we all realized that none of the kids would be getting much sleep, and we had a busy weekend ahead of us.

I offered to make supper for everyone. The plan was to jet home, whip up some dinner, meet R, and then head over. HH invited us over to eat with them, but also understood if we wanted to have a quiet night at home. We opted to have dinner with everyone, much to the chagrin of A, who wanted to have a night out without the annoying parents, though N was more amenable to the idea of us being there.

We headed over and the dinner was nice. HH made some raviolis and veggies, and we hung out and had a nice meal. The kids headed upstairs to play and the adults got to share stories from the trenches. We really like HH, she is fun to hang out with and so calm and relaxed, even in the face of stressful times.

R and I went home and had our quiet evening, and it is strange not having the kids there. We are so fine tuned to being aware of their presence, that we can’t turn off parenting mode, and continue to act as if they were there. Of course, they were always on our mind.

The fact that they weren’t going to get any sleep was compounded by the town’s Winter festival the next morning, which is an all day event where all the kids show up and get crazy in the snow. They have sled dog rides (the real deal) and sled races and ice skating/hockey, but the kids seem to have the most fun just getting crazy on the snow drift mountain. There is a massive pile of snow that must be about twenty feet high, and the kids sled and climb all over it. It can get a little heated, though.

The Fest also includes the chili cook-off, but more on that later. We hung out and got to see friends and neighbors. We played hockey and ate tons of chili, and then unleashed the kids to wreck havoc on each other. Needless to say it was a blast, though A got hit in cheek with a broomstick (don’t ask), and N was maniacally running on fumes.

The crazy thing was, we still had another event to go to that evening, the Tiki Torch Trek, and by the time we were getting ready to leave, it started to snow again. I couldn’t believe it. We desperately needed a break, so we gathered the kids up, went home, fed them and regrouped for the evening’s festivities. We were all more than a little tired, but there was no way weren’t going to make the Trek. It’s a must-see event in town.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.