TT Dad really stepped up his game for Mother’s Day, this year!
A weekend in Chicago, Cubs game, spending quality time with my kids, my husband, and my amazing in-laws!
He really set the bar high. I had to pull off something pretty special for Father’s Day.
But what?
I decided to take his lead, and spread it out over a few days… but without the 15 hour car ride!
In our past life, pre-kids, we had enjoyed attending food/music festivals. Life is Good Festival in Canton, MA was an annual event. More than one Bacon/BBQ/Beer festival kept us entertained over the years. When the littles were much littler, we made a few attempts to continue our patronage. It quickly became apparent that it wasn’t as easy to go with the festival flow when you have twin babies. Dragging the stroller onto a shuttle, pushing it through grass, or up hills wasn’t exactly an enjoyable experience. Then there’s the idea that these poor kids were stuck in the stroller for a long time! Before they were walking, we would attempt to set up a blanket for them to crawl around, but finding somewhere on the quieter side, having to take turns keeping an eye on them while the other parent headed to find more food, etc… it didn’t scream Family Activity at that point.
One of our favorite festivals is hosted by a local BBQ restaurant- Black-Eyed Sally’s in Hartford, CT. Every summer, they host the ‘Black-Eyed and Blues’ Festival in Bushnell Park. Well known Blues artists provide musical entertainment while the crowds feast on delicious barbeque! We agreed to give it another shot this year. Parking can usually be found nearby, it wouldn’t be a huge area to push the stroller through to find a spot to set up camp, and as a bonus, Auntie L, Uncle M, and our CT cousins would be there, too! They had also invited another family, with a 3 year old daughter) to join the party.
It didn’t take long to find a shady spot large enough to allow the kids to run around, dance, and/r whatever else they would choose. We weren’t sure what to expect.. it had been a long while since we’d ventured out to a festival. The kids had a blast. They immediately made friends with a baby sitting on a blanket just in front of us. Once the cousins, and their friends arrived, the fun began. So much dancing.
We were prepared for the inevitability that they would tire of dancing at some point. We brought books, balls, and fed them a BBQ Sundae. Nothing went unused. Storytime was a hit, and the balls were fun to kick around. Believe it or not, the real hit was the trash can. It was a short walk from our blanket, passing by a handful of other festival-goers, all of whom were charmed by our duo.
Every few minutes, the kids would search out another small piece of trash that they could walk over to throw away.
This continued on most of the evening. Of course, it was too good to last, and as soon as the clock ticked past 6:30 (around the time we were usually starting our bedtime routine) they turned back into pumpkins, and simply couldn’t be contained. We didn’t make it through the entire evening of music, but we put in a good effort… I think TTDad even enjoyed his first Father’s Day event.
We had one more day trip planned to celebrate the best dad ever…
Here’s a hint… The duo would spent some time with a big Green Monster! Any guesses?