St. Wendel Summer Social 2015

This weekend was our church's annual summer social, which the kiddos have been talking about nonstop for the last 2 weeks!  I had volunteered to work in the bounce house area on Saturday evening.  Before we left the house, I was doing chores when I watch storm clouds "roll" pass us.  There were maybe 10 drops of rain that fell here at the house, but in St. Wendel, it was a down pour with hail!  Luckily, the social hadn't started, mass was still going on, and the rain was over by the time mass finished.

When the kiddos and I arrived, the air had definitely cooled down.  So much so, that I loaded them back into the van to go home and get the kiddos in long pants and grab sweatshirts for everyone!  We then headed back and let the fun begin.  Julianne and Momma got something to eat, and Dallas and Reba headed straight for the bounce houses.  Once Julianne finished her hot dog, she was ready to get in the bounce house with the others.

Sugar did very well until she got plowed over by someone, then she was done and wouldn't entertain the idea of getting back in - even when Reba was the only one in that bounce house!

Dallas spent the evening floating back and forth between the bounce houses and the dunk tank.  Thankfully, they were right next to each other, and I could keep an eye on him while I was working the bounce house area.

Sunday morning, after church, we came home to change clothes and get Julianne a nap before returning to the activities.  We were all thrilled to learn Daddy had the day off and got to join us in the fun!  We first enjoyed the fabulous fried chicken dinner they serve, and then we made our way to the bounce houses (again)!

There was not too many kiddos in the area, so I thought I would let Julianne try the slide.  Guess what!?!?  She loved it!!!

She couldn't quite climb up the "steps" by herself, but Daddy gave her a helping hand.  Reba desperately wanted to go down with her (either side by side or one in front of the other), but Sugar would have no part in that!  Julianne would even "push" Reba down the slide so she would be out of the way.

Dallas was somehow able to get Julianne to go down with him (one time), but I don't think Julianne was very happy about it.

The church sells tickets which are needed in order to play the games (dunk tank, plinko, coin toss, and pick a duck).  This year, I bought Dallas and Reba each a pack of 25 tickets.  Dallas spent all of his on the dunk tank, and Reba spent all of her at the plinko and pick a duck.  She did let Julianne pick a couple of the ducks, but Reba kept the tokens that were won.

Julianne finally crashed for a nap about 5 this afternoon.  She only slept about 45 minutes, but something is better than nothing!

Then she was back in the bounce house!

Dallas also participated in the pedal pull.  This was his first year pedaling the Allis, called Hook and Book.  He did fairly well, but he didn't go far enough to place.

Until next time...

St. Wendel Summer Social

One of our school's biggest events is the Summer Social held at the beginning of September.  It is a two day event that begins with Saturday evening mass followed by a pork chop supper.  The games and raffles begin shortly thereafter, too.  The party goes until 10 or so in the evening, and starts up again with Sunday morning mass, followed by a fried chicken dinner.  The games, raffles, auctions, ect stay open until 10 pm on Sunday as well!  We had so much fun this year.  Dallas and Reba couldn't get enough of the inflatable area, Doug and I enjoyed seeing many friends, as well as getting to know more of the parents of our kiddos' classmates.  As always, the food was excellent, and to top the cake - the weather was AMAZING!  Enjoy the photos...

This is what greets you as you enter the Social...

Dallas and Reba are in there somewhere

Julianne even did a little bouncing (from the outside)

The inflatables area is fenced off with orange snow fencing.  This year, I was a lot more relaxed with the kiddos.  I told them as long as they stayed inside the fence, they could go from bounce house to bounce house.  I (or Doug - and sometimes both of us) stayed in the center of the area so they could find us if they needed something.  Dallas and Reba loved the freedom to run around with their classmates without having to wait on Mom and Dad (and Julianne)!

 

Dallas loved the dunk tank.  He actually did fairly well.  He hit the target more than once, but not always with enough force to trip the dunk.

Julianne finally crashed on Saturday night

On Sunday, we headed back to enjoy more of the fun.  Daddy took the kiddos to bounce while I worked a shift monitoring the "Big Kid" inflatable area (ages 10 and up).  After my shift was over, Daddy went through the carry-out line and got lunch for all of us.  We then sat under a shade tree in the "Little Kid" inflatable area to eat.  Dallas and Reba finished their meals quickly and went back to bouncing while Doug and I finished ours.  It was perfect!

Reba then wanted to play some games to try and win some prizes.  First us was the Plinko Drop

And then it was Pick a Duck

Reba won a tattoo at the Pick a Duck, so we had to go to the bathroom right away to apply it!

It was then time for the Pedal Pull!  Reba's age group was up first.  She got a full pull on her first run, and had a good pull in the pull off, but she was edge out of a top 3 placing by an inch!

Dallas' age group followed next.  The sled was a bit heavier, and not a one in the class got a full pull.  There was though, a tie for 2nd place - and one of them was Dallas!

Dallas did great in the pull off, and finished 3rd in his age group.

Dallas then headed back to the dunk tank!

And, Reba played a few more games before heading back to the inflatable area!  We had planned on leaving about mid-afternoon, but Dallas and Reba were having a great time, Julianne was very content, and Doug and I were enjoying ourselves, too.  We ended up eating supper at the Social, and finally made our way home close to 8 p.m.  Enough time to brush teeth and crash in bed!

Until next time...

West Side Nut Festival

A couple weeks ago was the 92nd Annual West Side Nut Festival.  The city claims it is the second largest street festival in the country (next to Mardi Gras).  The best thing about the festival is that all of the 130+ food booths are non-profit/charity groups.  Many of the booths are churches, schools, band/sport boosters, etc.  They all come up with their own menu, and if you can imagine a "fair food", you'll find it there!  Our church/school had a booth, and they were selling chocolate covered Oreo truffles, Burgoo, Kuchens, and grilled cheese sandwiches.

We finally made it out to enjoy the festival on Saturday (it runs all day, everyday from Monday-Saturday).  That morning there was a pet parade, so we decided to check it out.

Dallas enjoying an apple cider slushy before the parade started.

This old truck lead the parade

Then, this big red familiar face!

Daddy was impressed with this young lady's pedal tractor

I don't think my kiddos realize who the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are...

Reba has the figured out if you wave at the parade, they will throw candy!  This is how she looked the entire parade (unfortunately, many of the participates didn't have candy to throw)

There were many different pets in the parade...include these chickens!

and a monkey! (Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat)

even Little Bo Peep's sheep

and a unicorn?

Even Duck Dynasty made an appearance!

Overall, the kiddos enjoyed seeing a different type of parade, but they did complain about how little candy they got :o)  Just can't please 'em.

Until next time...

St. Wendel Social

Last weekend (Sept 7-8) was our church's annual Summer Social.  This was the first time we attended, and boy, are we sorry we hadn't been before!  The social started Saturday evening after Mass with a pork chop dinner and the games opening.  I worked in the inflatable area, but Doug and kiddos did not go as they had been at the tractor show in Elnora all day.

Sunday, after Mass, they served a fried chicken dinner.  We chose to go back home first in order for everyone to grab a nap.  We arrived back at the social about 45 minutes before they stopped serving, but there was still plenty of food (and no wait!).

Little Miss enjoying her dinner

After we were done eating, we made our way to the inflatable area.  Dallas LOVED this huge slide!

While Reba preferred the under 5 year old bounce house

 Then, the kiddos ventured over to another slide that was not quite as big (nor as crowded)

Once the kiddos were good and sweaty from bouncing, we headed back inside for the pedal pulls (that will be another post).  After the pulls, we decided to let the kiddos play some of the games.

First up was Plinko

Gotta love the pick-a-duck!

Of course, the favorite...the Dunk Tank!  (FYI: that's our priest, Fr. Ed in the tank!)  Dallas was trying his hardest to dunk him!!!  He did hit the target at least 3 times, but there just wasn't enough power behind the throw to drop Father.

In the end, Dallas hit it with his hand!

Of course, the kiddos wanted to go back to the inflatables, and this time, Reba braved the giant slide!

Dallas loved to see how high he could jump on the "take-off"

We had a few more tickets to use up on the games, so Daddy tried the coin toss

And, Reba wanted to try the dunk tank

Little Miss didn't have as good of aim as Big Brother, but she still got to push the paddle in the end

After all the tickets were spent, we grabbed a bowl of ice cream and counted how many tokens the kiddos had won from the games.  We then made our way to the prize area to see what fun stuff the kiddos could "buy".  One of the favorite things they came home with...tattoos!

Unfortunately, Dallas' baseball man didn't last very long (it was completely gone by the following night).  Reba's, on the other, hand lasted at least 5 days!

Overall, we had a super fun day, and the kiddos slept like rocks from bouncing so much!

Until next time...