Fall Fest

Well, we haven't taken them to any of the pumpkin patches, but I've made it to a Fall Festival with them!

(sung to the tune of Old McDonald)

Central Baptist had a Fest

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And at that Fest they had some games

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Some games that Kellen & Tatum played

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And at that Fest they had a zoo!

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A petting zoo with lots to do

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And at that Fest zoo they had a goat

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And at that Fest zoo they had a pig

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And at that Fest zoo they had a guinea pig

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And at that Fest zoo they had a rabbit

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And at that Fest zoo they had a kitten

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And at that Fest they had a horse

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Well, all-in-all, the kids had fun.

Kellen fell in love with his first kitten, and was immensely upset with me because I wouldn't let him bring the black and white kitten in the above video home with him. They were giving the kittens away with parental approval, which I withheld. Mean ole' Mommy! To rub salt in THAT wound, he didn't get to do everything he wanted to (darn it, we just ran out of time!), so he was upset about that, so unfortunately, he left the Fall Fest a little unhappy. Oh well, things happen....We talked about it on the way home, and I let him know that it was OK for him to be upset, and it was even OK for him to be upset towards Mommy because I didn't let him have the kitten. (Hey, I knew he was feeling that way, why not go ahead and validate those feelings, right?)

At any rate, he was doing MUCH better by the time we got home and went to bed in a better mood. He DID thoroughly enjoy himself...he was just enjoying himself SO MUCH that he didn't want the festival to end...And everyone has experience with those types of things, right?

As for Tatum, she did wonderfully! She was enjoying herself so much that it was challenging to keep her close to me. *grin* She tried her hand at a few games, and then warmed up rather nicely to the animals at the petting zoo. She didn't want anything to do with the goats (despite what the pictures may show or lead you to believe), but adored the pigs, guinea pigs and rabbits. She didn't even mind the kitten! And then, amazement of all amazements...we walked out of the petting zoo and there was a HUGE dog laying down...Kellen walked over to him and petted him and then so did Tatum! It was more of a smack on the back than a pet, but she did it twice! I was FLOORED, to say the least. Maybe seeing all of the animals is starting to work? I'm hopeful, but certainly don't think that today solved all of her puppy issues by any means. We'll just keep with our exposure to her comfort level and see what happens!

We then went and got in line to ride the horses, and this would be Tatum's first horse ride (that I'm aware of, at least). I was nervous as to whether or not she would actually get on the horse, but considering that she wanted to climb the corral to get TO the horse each time it came by, I considered that a good sign. See the video above for the majority of her first ride. She doesn't look excited, but the did enjoy it! (I know, I asked her later and she answered, 'Uh, huh!')

We have a few fall/halloween-type events this week, so I'll try to be diligent and post pictures as the events occur. (Notice that I did say "try", right?)