Pumpkin Festival

 We'd been looking forward to the Pumpkin Festival in a nearby town for weeks!   Ramsey and I had been planning to meet up with my good friend Teri and her little boy Stetson, who is about a year younger than Ramsey (they becamse good buds this summer).

In the AM, we had the very last soccer game of the season.  But, it was also windy, cold, and rainy.  Meh!  But, in South Dakota, the weather in October can change drastically within just a few hours.  So.. off to soccer we went!

We somehow avoided the rain - thank goodness!

After soccer, Ramsey changed clothes and we were off to meet up with Teri and Stetson!

The weather had turned from cold and rainy to humid with a nice 60s temp!  The boys were thrilled when they finally met up.

I was amazed at what a fun and well-organized event this was, with so many terrific activities for kids (and adults!).  

There were fun barrel carts for the kids to ride in, antique fire trucks on display....

Ramsey was less than thrilled at how loud the sirens were! :-)

Local businesses gave away "goody bags", filled with bubbles, treats, stickers, etc.  Incidentally, the free backpack/bag will be great for taking winter gear to school. Nice!    We had to stop at the local vendor set-ups as well to check out their homemade items.  We went home with delicious gourmet cupcakes and cookies.

There were photo ops set up in multiple places.   There were free pumpkins for all the kids, a free lunch of hamburgers, brats, chips, pop, and desserts too.   The amount of volunteers and sponsors was incredible!  

And, there were bouncy castles!  (Ramsey's FAVORITE - and apparently Stetson's too!)

The boys would have stayed on the bouncy castles ALL DAY if we would have let them!

But, they were too many things to do, to focus on just one thing!

Teri's husband, Joe, raised all of the pumpkins for the kids.  And, even raised this gigantic pumpkin!  Fest goers had the opportunity to win a prize for guessing the weight of the pumpkin.  After the event, the weight was released; it was 1194 pounds!  We didn't win - undershot it by about 200 lbs.  Rats!

After the event, Teri and I took the boys to Dairy Queen for treats (we had felt like "A" raindrop, so it was time to bugger out).   

About an hour after Ramsey and I got home, the weather reports were a bit dire; there were storm warnings and tornado watches for our area, but tornado warnings and severe weather for the small town where Pumpkin Fest was held (where Teri lives).    It was eery outside with the winds changing directions several times, clashing.

The winds and storms continued to whip through.  It was freaky enough where Ramsey felt he needed "more cover" in the living room.  He built himself a pillow fort and hung out.

Meanwhile, I was texting Teri to see how they were doing.  They did have some terrible weather and spent a few hours in the basement.  Luckily, no one was hurt and the tornadoes stayed outside of town, causing only tree damage in their yard.