This weekend Ty had his Fantasy Football draft in my hometown so we came to visit for the weekend. This league is serious business with a $20 buy in and the winner taking a pot of about $300 which Ty won in 2012. He was in charge of food for draft day and brought the smoker to make pulled pork and bologne for the guys. Everyone meets up at one person's house with their computers and it's an online draft. The first year Ty did it, it wasn't online yet and they used a white board with Expo markers. It seems to be much easier for the commissioner now that it's online.
This weekend also happened to be the Little Balkans Day Festival. The festival celebrates the history and ethnic diversity of the region. The area was deemed the Little Balkans of Kansas due to the large number of the immigrants who traveled from southeastern Europe, also called the Balkan region of Europe, to Kansas to work in coal mines back in the late 1800's and early 1900's. One of the biggest events of the weekend is the sidewalk sale with art booths that extend along the main street in town. We took Carter with us and strolled down the street.
Enjoying the walk with Uncie Jeremy.
At the end of the sidewalk sale they had inflatables and rides for kids. Carter initially got distracted by a bubble machine, dancing and popping bubbles. When he saw the inflatables he was desperate to go through them. My mom picked up a couple of tickets so he could try them out. He went in the one that looked most age appropriate and excitedly ran down the first hallway and through a tunnel before getting to a wall he had to climb and turning around to run back toward the entrance. I was very proud of him for going in on his own. At Ty's company picnic he wouldn't go through the inflatables unless I went with him. He loved bouncing through it this time and went up and down the hallway and through the tunnel for probably a good 10 minutes before he went back to the entrance and climbed out. We bumped into a friend of mine from high school with her 2 kids. There was an inflatable caterpillar for kids to climb through. Her daughter said she'd help Carter so we sent him in behind her. There were clear plastic windows on the side to watch through and her daughter actually put her hands in Carter's arm pits and lifted him over a wall they had to climb over. It was so cute!
Playing with bubbles.
The best picture I got of him in the bounce house.
After all the fun of the inflatables we headed over to a petting zoo area. Carter loved it and when he saw a zebra he very excitedly pointed and exclaimed, "tiger!" It must have been the stripes that tricked him up. He enjoyed filling little shovels they had available with food and feeding the animals. It's hard to say which animals were his favorite as he seemed to like them all quite a bit. We made it through all the animals and I looked down at Carter's face. It was beat read and his hair was matted to his head with sweat. We were planning to stay in the area to meet up with my friend, Erin, and her son, Hayden, but it was 20 minutes until naptime and I could tell Carter was done. We headed home for a quick lunch and then it was naptime.
Pointing and saying "tiger!"
He was one tired boy!
When Carter woke up I texted Erin to invite her over and she came along with Hayden and her parents. My mom bought Carter a really neat roller coaster toy at Sam's Club and we all knew Hayden would love it. Carter had ridden it twice earlier in the day and was pretty scared. After his rides he cried anytime someone tried to put him on it. When Hayden arrived Carter rushed to the car yelling, "Haydey" which was too precious for words. Hayden was immediately intrigued by the roller coaster and wanted to push the car down it and walk on the track, but wasn't interested in riding it. Eventually his grandpa talked him into going down it and he loved it. Feeling brave after watching Hayden go down, Carter went for another ride. He didn't seem quite as scared, but he didn't look like he had fun either.
Carter riding the roller coaster earlier in the day:
Hayden loved the roller coaster.
Smiling at the end of the ride.
Carter's face looks slightly terrified.
His face at the end of the ride.
This visit was the best Hayden and Carter have ever played together and it was the cutest! They sat together at the table to eat strawberries for a snack, they climbed the stairs side-by-side, and they had conversations. That game Carter loves, shutting a door and calling for mommy to open it, apparently Hayden loves it too. They both went into the bathroom and shut the door. Then Carter called for me to come open it. When I did I said boo and acted really excited. They both squealed with laughter, jumped up and down, and grabbed onto each other. Carter got so excited he hugged onto Hayden and wouldn't let go, almost knocking Hayden backward into the bathtub. They would run around and play and then go back into the bathroom. One time Carter went in and Hayden was still playing in the hallway. Carter stood in the doorway with his hand on the door knob, waiting for Hayden. When it was time for Hayden to go, he didn't want to leave and Carter was sad to see him go. We plan to get together again before leaving for the work week.
Very cute! Hayden had a huge smile on the coaster.
ReplyDeleteHe absolutely loved it!
Delete