Deacon Jones Kids Day

I mentioned yesterday that out of the whole weekend, Saturday was actually a fun day for us. I had heard about an event in town at the last minute, and when S woke up feeling much better and not running a temp, I decided to take the kids and enjoy ourselves. Granted, I didn't realize just how hot it was going to feel outside -- but the kids didn't care in the least.

There were bounce houses -- and even though one was still quite wet from the night before's rain, L jumped and ran through until he couldn't anymore. His shorts {the only ones we had with us} were soaked ... and his smile was bigger than I've seen on him in a long while. Apparently, little boys don't mind wet denim! Once we got out of the bounce houses, I knew we needed to stick around for awhile to let shorts dry out. So we walked around to see what else they had set up.

A mini petting zoo. Pony rides. Face painting. Popsicles and juice and water for everyone. Balloon creations. A dunk tank. And the best part?! Everything was free! The kids made sure we stood in line for everything, and waited patiently for their turns. I think they would have gone on pony rides the rest of the day if I had let them -- and looking back, I kind of wish I had let them. They really loved it!

As we were standing in line for the balloon creations, the kids spied a man grilling hotdogs for everyone, and got so excited. But by that point, the sweat was overruling any decision I might have made. Free hotdogs sounded great, but when it also meant standing in line to get them, then standing around in the sun to eat them with two kids who are quite slow eaters ... there was no way I was game.

So I made them a promise -- they could pick ANYWHERE to eat lunch, as long as it had air conditioning. Of course they wanted happy meals from McDonalds! Once they got their balloons, we were back in the car, and on our way. Stopped, ate and continued on our way home.

Seriously, though -- I wish this town was a little more "kid friendly" like some of the other military towns we've seen and heard of. This was one of the first times we've been to such a fun, albeit little, event, and the kids are already asking when the next "kid time" is going to be!