We went to a kid's festival on Sunday as part of our Memorial Day celebration.  It turned out to be so much fun!  We got there mid-afternoon and made a quick loop of the place to prioritize our activities.  Here's pretty much how it went down after that:
    First on the agenda:  E wanted to introduce the girls to funnel cake (translation:  E was craving funnel cake).  Both Ladybug and Baby Duck gave the deep-fat-fried batter drowning in powdered sugar a big thumbs-up.  As I carefully stood upwind of the greasy plate of silly string, E offered to share.  I politely declined, citing a miserable incident involving a treacherous ride home after combining funnel cake with The Octopus at a state fair some years ago.  E said that was like someone saying they can't drink Diet Coke anymore after a bad experience with Captain Morgan/Diet Coke.  I thanked him for making my point so vividly for me.  As a side note, I believe there is an age limit for the consumption of funnel cake-- and E was in full agreement with me by bedtime...
    Next we made our way over to the famous fountains that spout up from the ground.  Even though it was a bit overcast, I came prepared with bathing suits and towels.  After all, what four-year-old ever cared about clouds when they are about to be allowed to get drenched in public?  Baby Duck dashed in and started to play.  Ladybug quickly announced in her own special way (pointing and yelling)  that she would like to join her sister.  She stayed on the outskirts, sticking her head in the water from time to time, but mostly relying on the wind to spray her.  She was shivering like crazy but had no interest in coming out of the fountain until her lips were a tinge purple.  Then she finally relented and allowed me to wrap her up in a towel.  Baby Duck was reasonably cooperative as well, which meant I was able to remain outside of the fountain perimeter!  I was sure that particular activity was going to end with me chasing a four-year-old and a nineteen-month-old all around the fountain when it was time to be done!  As it was about five degrees too cool for me to have any interest in doing that, I was quite pleased to stay dry.
    After that, it was time for Baby Duck to have her face painted.  We sprung for the full-face butterfly airbrushing.  She had a really hard time sitting still because the burst of air followed by the cold spray of paint was tickling her so much.  It was so cute because the flinching caused the final result to have little feathered marks all around her eyes which reminded me of her giggling every time I looked at them.
    By that time Dan Zanes was taking the stage, which was the musical act Baby Duck had been going on and on about wanting to see.  She enjoyed a few songs but quickly found herself embarrassed in our spot right up next to the stage.  She thought everyone could hear her sing and was watching her dance.  She began to get overwhelmed and bury her face in her father's shoulder, so he did what any fun-loving dad would:  he took her over to enjoy some bouncy fun on the many different moonwalk contraptions available.  When they arrived back she was smiling again.  Soon, however, E and I noticed that both girls had hit their fun-activity capacity for the day.  It was time to wrap it up.  So we headed home, glad we had gotten to experience the true beginning of  summertime holidays with kids.  I think we'll do it again next year.

CL