You always see those towns on sitcoms and dramas on tv where the whole town actually comes out actually dressed up to participate in festivals and parties. I thought those were a thing of fiction. Then again I had also chalked up love to be a thing of fiction too until Vincent Mallone waltz his way into my life. So once again, he has showed me that fairy-tales can come true.
Last night was amazing for me. I have never really experienced anything like that before in my life. I was very impressed with how everything. I helped the ladies in the kitchen. I probably looked like a deer caught in headlights. I was only made aware that we would be attending the festival a week ahead of time. Knowing that they wanted my help made feel extremely welcomed.
The Saturday that they had told me about the festival they also told me there would be a bake sale and to bring plenty of goodies. I had no idea what to make for such. Don't get me wrong we would have bake sales and things at school but it wasn't a very big deal. This I could tell was a big deal for this town. So I started to panic slightly.
Yes, I was panicking about what to bake and even what to wear since it was costume required, or at least very suggested. Vinny was going on about Harry Potter when the idea occurred to me... Butterbeer Cupcakes! It would be fabulous! I couldn't think of doing anything else after that. So Saturday night I slaved away into the wee hours baking and mixing up frosting.
The recipe I used was found on Pinterest (of course!) and from the website Amy Bites. I followed the recipe with a trial run and they turned out perfectly! I was so excited and I just kept on baking into the night. The smell of rum with sweet smelling vanilla and caramel. It was delicious heaven for me!
My costume problem was also fixed thanks to a kind lady of the church. She made me a gorgeous fringe dress perfect for being a flapper. I love the blue that she made. She said it would match it my eyes perfectly. Vin just loved it. So it was pretty easy to him to match my costume.
The night before I was like a crazy lady trying to get everything into baskets and boxes. I bought plenty of cupcake boxes from Oriental Trading. I purchased these stickers from there too. The girls extra blankets and jackets were packed away too. Plus the two bags of marshmallows, 4 Dr. Peppers and hot dog buns for the hot dogs that we were also donating to the festivities.
So dressed like a flapper, a gangster, a Elsa, and cheerleader we left our house. I was really confused as to why Vin parked so far away from the building but when we turned the corner, I knew. There were hundreds of booths, tents, and people. Pumpkins, hay, scarecrows, etc were everywhere. I instantly felt like I had been zapped into sitcom. The little ones were running around with their bags or jack-o-lantern treat bowls.
There would be two hayrides. One was a judgement hayride, which in the words of the church sponsoring would "take you to hell and back." It would be extremely scary with legends of ghosts and spirits of the locals, then take into the stories of hell from the Bible and then bring you back through the streets of heaven where you could be saved. The other hayride was for the youngster which had fun characters.
My girls were excited by all the booths and games. Vin assured me that Rain was safe on her own with the child cellphone we gave her like we do at Disney World. So Luna and I trudged up to the building where the major food was being distributed. Mrs. Hinny, the lady that made my costume, was over the bake sale and promised me that my cupcakes would sale and that she would make sure I got the money from them (I donated it to the church.) Vin went off to help with the hayride which left me and Luna in the building. Luna quickly discovered the movie corner with several others her age. I went into the kitchen and a couple of hours passing out drinks, chips, pretzels, brownies, and other goodies that came with the purchase of the meal.
Luna was the darling that made herself known in the kitchen that she didn't want a hot dog. She just wanted her boiled and with bbq sauce with no bun. She won their hearts over and she was happy when I picked her up to go do the rounds of the booths. She was super excited because Rain joined back up with us. They really had everything:
The Saturday that they had told me about the festival they also told me there would be a bake sale and to bring plenty of goodies. I had no idea what to make for such. Don't get me wrong we would have bake sales and things at school but it wasn't a very big deal. This I could tell was a big deal for this town. So I started to panic slightly.
Yes, I was panicking about what to bake and even what to wear since it was costume required, or at least very suggested. Vinny was going on about Harry Potter when the idea occurred to me... Butterbeer Cupcakes! It would be fabulous! I couldn't think of doing anything else after that. So Saturday night I slaved away into the wee hours baking and mixing up frosting.
The recipe I used was found on Pinterest (of course!) and from the website Amy Bites. I followed the recipe with a trial run and they turned out perfectly! I was so excited and I just kept on baking into the night. The smell of rum with sweet smelling vanilla and caramel. It was delicious heaven for me!
My costume problem was also fixed thanks to a kind lady of the church. She made me a gorgeous fringe dress perfect for being a flapper. I love the blue that she made. She said it would match it my eyes perfectly. Vin just loved it. So it was pretty easy to him to match my costume.
The night before I was like a crazy lady trying to get everything into baskets and boxes. I bought plenty of cupcake boxes from Oriental Trading. I purchased these stickers from there too. The girls extra blankets and jackets were packed away too. Plus the two bags of marshmallows, 4 Dr. Peppers and hot dog buns for the hot dogs that we were also donating to the festivities.
So dressed like a flapper, a gangster, a Elsa, and cheerleader we left our house. I was really confused as to why Vin parked so far away from the building but when we turned the corner, I knew. There were hundreds of booths, tents, and people. Pumpkins, hay, scarecrows, etc were everywhere. I instantly felt like I had been zapped into sitcom. The little ones were running around with their bags or jack-o-lantern treat bowls.
There would be two hayrides. One was a judgement hayride, which in the words of the church sponsoring would "take you to hell and back." It would be extremely scary with legends of ghosts and spirits of the locals, then take into the stories of hell from the Bible and then bring you back through the streets of heaven where you could be saved. The other hayride was for the youngster which had fun characters.
My girls were excited by all the booths and games. Vin assured me that Rain was safe on her own with the child cellphone we gave her like we do at Disney World. So Luna and I trudged up to the building where the major food was being distributed. Mrs. Hinny, the lady that made my costume, was over the bake sale and promised me that my cupcakes would sale and that she would make sure I got the money from them (I donated it to the church.) Vin went off to help with the hayride which left me and Luna in the building. Luna quickly discovered the movie corner with several others her age. I went into the kitchen and a couple of hours passing out drinks, chips, pretzels, brownies, and other goodies that came with the purchase of the meal.
Luna was the darling that made herself known in the kitchen that she didn't want a hot dog. She just wanted her boiled and with bbq sauce with no bun. She won their hearts over and she was happy when I picked her up to go do the rounds of the booths. She was super excited because Rain joined back up with us. They really had everything:
- Pumpkin Toss
- Corn hole (I won two or three games with Vinny earning us a pumpkin reward.)
- Pumpkin carving contests (It wasn't my best and came in 3rd over all, winning me a $25 to Hobby Lobby.)
- Face painting
- Go Fish - Luna adored this
- Bobbing for apples for all ages... more on that later
- Pumpkin Tic Tac Toe
- Pumpkin bowling
- Ghost face doughnut - They put the powdered sugar doughnuts on a string and let you eat them off the strings.
- Football throw
- Haystack find - Another one Luna loved
- Duck matching - Both my girls adored this. It was pumpkins.
- Drink Toss
- Balloon Darts
- A cake walk
- Two bonfires
- Booths selling clothing
- Glowsticks booths
- Glow in the dark room
- Egg race
- Leaf pool prize
- Horse shoe
- Witch pitch (like bean bag toss but in mini cauldrons)
- Guess how many are in the jars was an awesome booth.
- Haystack maze
- Dance tent
- Quilting booths
Back in the bake sale there was a lot going on with the delicious goodies. Chocolate covered pretzels, covered pretzels sticks, different mixes, popcorn balls, chocolate covered marshmallows, pumpkin rice crispies, pies, etc were all available plus many more And lastly there was a caramel apple bar where you could purchase a caramel apple and roll it in a caramel and then had the options of toppings to roll it in again. This was a huge hit with our whole family.
Vin had been leading the prayer on the judgement hayride and he finally passed that duty on to someone else. Mrs. Hinny agreed to watch the girls (and gave them free treats.) I was able to ride on the judgement hayride and enjoy the legends and folklore. It was amazing. When we got back Vin asked if I wanted to dance. 'Sure why not' is what I thought.
What I was not expecting was to actually do the Charleston. It was so much fun. I felt alive. I dance with all ages. It was blast. I felt like jello after dancing with everyone.
A elderly gentlemen told me to go bob for apples. I managed to get dunked completely into the almost empty barrel. I was soaking wet by the time Vin got back from going to roast marshmallows with the girls. "Why are you sitting the barrel?" I just chunked the apples at him. People were laughing.
The best part was when he came over to me, laughing, and puts his hands on my face and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around him and drenched him as well. We laughed and kissed. We were so wrapped into each that it took a moment for us to realize that people were catcalling, whistling, and clapping.
We went home with two happy girls and we were pretty happy as well.
What I was not expecting was to actually do the Charleston. It was so much fun. I felt alive. I dance with all ages. It was blast. I felt like jello after dancing with everyone.
A elderly gentlemen told me to go bob for apples. I managed to get dunked completely into the almost empty barrel. I was soaking wet by the time Vin got back from going to roast marshmallows with the girls. "Why are you sitting the barrel?" I just chunked the apples at him. People were laughing.
The best part was when he came over to me, laughing, and puts his hands on my face and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around him and drenched him as well. We laughed and kissed. We were so wrapped into each that it took a moment for us to realize that people were catcalling, whistling, and clapping.
We went home with two happy girls and we were pretty happy as well.
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