Monday, March 15, 2010

The Ostrich Festival


While J was gone this weekend, I put on my brave, adventurous mom hat and decided to take the kids to the Ostrich Festival. After we first arrived, I did some serious questioning of my sanity and made some under-my-breath snide comments at the 15-minute wait to park in a large, allergy-inducing, non-stroller friendly field; the $5 charge to park in said field; the ensuing 30-minute wait to buy entrance tickets (not ride tickets, just entrance tickets--they couldn't actually have them in the same place, now, could they?); the lack of maps/directions (just where were the actual ostrich races?); and the inflated price of food ($4 for a little ice cream cone).

But after we handed over plenty of our money, finally got into the event, and figured out the basic layout, we had such a good time. The kids savored their $4 ice cream cones, loved the caterpillar roller coaster and the big dinosaur bounce house. Mister chose to spend his last tickets on the fun house while Sweetie rode the swings and "made a new friend" with the girl sitting next to her.

We watched the cowboy/horse show with tricks. We watched the medieval knights joust and sword-fight. Sweetie was so concerned that the men were really going to get hurt: "Mom, are the swords real?" "Mom, are the swords sharp?" "Mom, just how sharp are the swords?" "Mom, are the swords made of metal?" You get the picture. Mister was slightly disappointed that our black knight did not win, despite our cheering. We also visited the petting zoo (then waited in line 10 minutes to wash our hands). And, before heading home, we finally watched the famed ostrich races, which were pretty hilarious. The ostrich races consisted of people actually riding the ostriches, people riding in little chariots behind the ostriches, and people trying to race the ostriches themselves. All I can say is, Who knew? Who knew? So the day ended up being fun--fun to actually go, but even more fun to watch my kids having fun.

Although I managed to bring water bottles, sunscreen, snacks, baby food/bib/spoon, baby bottles, change of baby clothes/diapers, I did not manage to bring the camera, so I got a few pics from my camera phone and some from the event Web site.




2 comments:

Hayley said...

You are brave! I need to follow your example this week and take my kids somewhere fun. Whenever I talk myself out of it, I will think of you.

Madsen Family said...

That looks like good times. Good for you for taking all three kiddos out solo. That is a serious accomplishment. Wish I could have come with!