Festival Fun!

It is fall, and since the weather is finally pleasant enough to be outside, it seems like there are festivals every weekend!
This weekend we hit up two fun ones: A Pumpkin Festival and River Arts Festival.

Pumpkin Festival

The Pumpkin Festival was at a local church's pumpkin patch, and there were bouncy castles and a trunk or treat, free hot dogs and popcorn, a hay ride, face painting and carnival games like throw the beanbag in the hole.
 (I didn't know what a trunk or treat was until just a few years ago. It's like trick-or-treating, except people put candy in the trunks of their cars and the kids go around the parking log and dig in and get their favorite treats.)

We had some sno-cones, which totally brought back childhood memories of the county fair. I don't think I've had one since I was about ten years old.  They still taste the same- cold and kind of watery with the intense sweetness of artificial flavors.

Eliana promptly dropped half of her cone on the sidewalk, but she didn't seem to mind. She just slurped up the rest of the grape-y goodness that was left in the paper cone.

Ethan went on the hay ride all by himself, and he just thought it was the best thing ever. He's been talking about it ever since. (This is a BIG deal, since last year he was terrified of tractors. He was really proud of himself for overcoming that fear. I'm really proud of him too!)
He kept saying,
 "I had fun on the hayride, it was cool. There was hay in the trailer and I picked it up and held it in my hands."
:) I Love him!

See his tiny blond head sticking up over the wall of the trailer? 

Bouncy Castle!!

Ethan is already enjoying his candy. :)

The kids went around the trunk or treat and got a bunch of candy, then we played on the bouncy castle, and the bouncy obstacle course with a slide. Eliana was really tired by then, but she still had some energy to play on the playground! It was a fun mid-day outing for me and the kids, with perfect sunny skies and memories made.

River Arts Festival

We've gone to River Arts Fest every year for the last 3 years or so; it's really cool.
Hundreds of artists and artisans from all over the southeast come and peddle their wares on South Main street; alongside the trolley tracks.

They sell everything from watercolors to wood workings, jewelry and handmade pottery, paintings, even metal work. Its always a feast for the eyes and makes for good people watching.

Of course, there is music and food as well; what kind of festival would it be if there wasn't?

I really was wishing I was hungry so I could have some of this delicious-smelling Greek food,
 but we had just eaten lunch!

There are also craft tables for the kids to make their own art,
and a working artist station with black smithing and pottery in progress.

This year there seemed to be a better selection of art. At least, there was a lot more that I really loved and wished I could take home with me.

Like these gorgeous ceramic vessels. They were so vividly colored!

I thought these were cool as well:

This dog was just hilarious. Tim wanted to bring him home, but I have no idea where we would've put him.

I really liked these ceramic coffee mugs as well.

The kids liked these windmills made out of metal. I thought they were cool, but kind of big.
Some of them were like 12 feet tall!

My absolute favorite though, were these glass ornaments. I wanted to take them all home and hang them on a huge Christmas tree. They were sooooo pretty!

After we got tired of walking around, we took a nice long ride on the Trolley, then sat for a bit and listened to some music until it was time to go home for dinner.

Whew! That was a long post. Sorry.  :)
Do you have any fun festivals in your town that you like to attend? I'd love to hear about them!