Athens' Cornfest a huge hit!

With summer soon coming to an end,  attending The Athens' Cornfest was a great way to celebrate and welcome the approaching autumn. A parade, a steam engine to cook the corn and a ton of local vendors, it was the perfect Saturday morning. Don't worry though, we aren't ready to put away our flip flops just yet!

My three year old was up at 7:00 a.m. and had already picked out her best "Cornfest"outfit. I am not sure she understood where we were going, but she sure was excited! Explaining there would be a lot of outdoor fun, we compromised on a pink ensemble, stowing the tutu for a later date. Once we woke daddy and all got ready, it was off to catch the parade.

Admittedly, it's been awhile since I have been to Athens. Although not far, there is usually not a reason for me to visit this town. Upon arrival, I quickly realized this was a place I'd have to come back to more often. The town has a charm about it, with beautiful hanging baskets lining the thoroughfare and well-kept shops. We could not find a place to park on the main street, so we turned up a side street and thankfully found a spot. Once the strollers were loaded up, we were ready to have some fun!

The first place we stopped was the raffle table for the Elizabethtown-Kitley Firefighters. They had an adorable "firehouse" for kids as the prize. The guys were very friendly, agreeing to smile for my picture and talk to the kids. Who doesn't love a man in uniform? Next up we spotted the always popular "Bouncy Castle". Quickly, my daughter was in line to have her turn. We started to get hungry and headed towards the steam engine that was cooking the local corn. It was delicious, easily the best corn I have had all summer.

 

 

 

 

We continued on to the paintball gun shooting range, Little Ray's Reptiles, checked out the vendors and finally ended up at the pony rides. This was the creme de la creme for my girls. Even my 4 month old was wide-eyed upon seeing the petting zoo and her big sister atop a pony.Everywhere I looked, there were happy families. With our youngest, people stop all the time to adore her cooing and her smiles, today was no exception. There were so many adorable babies and smiles everywhere- we were in good company.

 

 

We left a few hours later, exhausted by all the fun and a bit surprised by what this festival had to offer. Who knew this small-town Cornfest could hold their own with the best of the bigger festivals? A huge congratulations to the Cornfest Chair, Hendrick Pape and his hard working team. Our family had a great day and we hope to attend for many years to come!

Santa didn't wave at me!

Our weekend kicked off with a visit from one of my favorite ladies, my sister.

Driving down from Toronto, she arrived at my door around 3:30. I still stand by it, to my Grandmother, that she did not speed. At all. Right. We went shopping and then stopped at our favorite place, Starbucks. When we arrived back at my house we were greated by a wonderful surprise, our Mother. She had popped up to Brockville to surprise us and join us for dinner.

With my spouse and oldest daughter in tow, we headed to GG and Pop Pop's for dinner. My sister and Mother stopped in at Island Delight and picked up dinner. If you aren't familiar with Island Delight, it is located in the west end on King street and serves Thai and Chinese food. They have also just won the Small Business of the Year award.

Seeing GG and Pop Pop makes anyone happy, but when a bunch of us are together it really becomes a fun night. Like any great family, we love to poke fun at each other and laugh all night. Great food and even better company made for a great start to the weekend!

Saturday was a quiet, clean the house kind of day. We were, however really just killing time until 2pm when we would be downtown to watch the annual Santa Claus parade.

We arrived at 1:30 p.m ensuring we get a great spot to take in the sights. We thought we had found it, but unfortunately had to move a few times, as there were surprisingly a lot of people who would light up and smoke in the crowds full of children. Once we finally did find a spot, in front of Tait's no less, we were ready for the parade to begin.

So many wonderful floats and many animals as well, one of my favorites being the gypsy horses. We could not believe the turnout, from east to west the sidewalks were full of families in spirit for the upcoming season.

Before we knew it, the Santa Claus float was upon us. My two and a half year old was extremly excited. She was up high on Daddy's shoulders waving her little heart out. We all know that Santa is very busy and has many children to wave at. When he reached our destination he was looking at the other side of the street waving to the many wonderful children. Our daughter, at her young age, didnt understand this. She started to cry and stated "Santa didn't wave at me!".  My spouse, being the amazing Dad he is, couldn't stand to see our daughter like this, so he held onto her tighltly and jogged down the sidewalk along side Santa. Finally they met up and our daughter got her wave. I have never been so impressed by the love of fatherhood and the little smile on her face made my day. Hopefully Santa is no longer on her naughty list!

Sunday was a very exciting day. We were up early and out the door to pick up our youngest from her mother's and then off to Ottawa for a kid's Christmas party, thrown by my mother's work.

For the past few years, we have been going to Fun Junction in the east end of Ottawa. It is a great place for small parties or events. With rock climbing, laser tag, mini putt, video games, air hockey and the coolest blow up playground for young children, we always have a blast!

The girls both loved the enclosed playground and in no time were up and down the slides, laughing and making friends with the other kids. We played some arcade games with them and had a great pizza lunch. Just when we thought the day was winding down, we were happily surprised with a visit from Santa! The girls are still young enough that Santa is very exciting from far away but still a bit scary up close. With some help from Mom,Dad, Amma and Grandpa, we approached Santa and were given a wonderful gift for each of the girls.

Before we were at the traffic lights on our way out of the city, both girls were fast asleep! It was a nice, quiet drive home and another fantastic weekend in and around our wonderful City of Brockville and our local community.