Fall Carnival

Last night my boys had their fall carnival at school. This was the first carnival that the school has ever done, so they were very excited. I'm part of the school's PTO and so I helped out setting up and running some things for it.

Josh brought the kids to the carnival since I was already there getting things ready and the first thing Jantzen wanted to do when they got there was the cupcake walk. This was set up in the cafeteria because it was hot outside (about 91 degrees) and we didn't want the frosting on the cupcakes to melt.

(Here's Jantz with Cadence and Coda)...

Jantzen picked a cupcake with white frosting and Halloween sprinkles...he really loved it!

While Jantzen was having fun at the cupcake walk, Jaron had been waiting in line at the dunk tank. It wasn't a full on dunk tank because the school district wouldn't allow that kind for liability reasons, so we got one that was just a bucket that would pour water on whoever was sitting underneath it. The reason Jaron was so excited to play this game was because it was his teacher (Mr. Games) that was sitting under the bucket. Mr. Games had told his class that if they missed the target that he would laugh at them, so Jaron was very determined to not let that happen. He got a total of four balls to throw at the target and on the third throw he hit the target. For some reason it didn't make the bucket tip over, so he got to go push it to make his teacher get all wet. I then asked Mr. Games if that meant that Jaron got a homework pass and he just laughed and said "yes".

Then, Jantzen tried to get Mr. Games wet, but unfortunately he wasn't able to hit the target.

After the boys had their fun at the dunk tank they went to get something for dinner. Jantzen had some nachos and chips, Jaron had a hot dog and chips, and Jaedyn was given some pizza, but I'm not sure how much she actually ate...she just wanted her water.

When the kids were all done eating their dinner, Jaron took off with some of his friends to play some games and Josh and I took Jantzen and Jaedyn around to play some games. Jaedyn first went to the "sucker pull" game where all she had to do was pull out a sucker ghost. She loves suckers, so this was a fun thing for her to do. She did have a hard time figuring out how to take the ghost off the sucker, so her daddy helped her so she could enjoy it.

Jantzen played a Halloween bean bag game that his Kindergarten teacher was running. He did pretty good, but mostly I think he was excited to see Ms. Curth.

Next up was the "Knock em Dead" game where you had to throw a baseball and knock over some milk cans. It took Jantz about three throws before he knocked anything over. I love the focus in his eyes (one is closed) as he throws each ball...

Then we moved on to another one of Jaedyn's favorite games, the "Fish Pond". Both Jaedyn and Jantzen got a ring from this game. Jantz was nice and gave his to Jaedyn because she loves rings (she ended up with about six of them by the end of the carnival).

After the fish pond, Jantzen took a try at the football toss game. He didn't do that well, but we'll work on it because next fall he wants to play football. This picture looks like he's catching the ball, but he's not, that's how he throws it...

There was a fun "Wheel of Fortune" game that the kids played. They both got some candy and a toy. When it came time to pick out the candy they wanted, Josh picked out a green Tootsie Roll for Jaedyn and she didn't want it. Instead she picked out a pink one...she's so girly!

One of the last games I got to see the kids play was the basketball toss. Jantzen liked this one and he got the ball in every time, Jaedyn was too small to hold the ball (it was as big as her).

I then had to leave to go back and help out in the drink booth that I was in charge of, so Josh took the kids around to play more games. I gave him the responsibility of taking pictures for me and all I got was one picture. I guess I should've known that was going to happen. I was a little bummed because I wanted to get a picture of the Plinko game he had made for the carnival, but he "forgot" to take a picture of it as Jantzen was playing it. Maybe next year I'll get a picture of it.

Here's Jaedyn playing in the duck pond...she loves ducks (the pink ones) and water!

Before the carnival was all over and cleaned up, I went inside the haunted house and took some pictures of everything in it because I helped put a lot of it together. This was the beginning of it...

We had an awesome dad volunteer (Jeremy) at the beginning all dressed up who was talking in a creepy voice to the kids as they walked in. It was funny when I was talking to him because he said that the teachers told him he was being a little too scary with the kids so he had to tone it down a little. On the stand by him was a talking head that was kind of creepy, but awesome at the same time. You can't see it in this picture (because the lights were all turned on), but we covered the light above Jeremy with red butcher paper to make it look a little creepy as the kids walked in...it was pretty cool! We also had scary music playing in the background.

Down past Jeremy was one of the teachers dressed up as a witch with a big cauldron. Unfortunately she left before I could get a picture of her. As the kids walked around the corner there was a big pumpkin and a mummy in a coffin.

Here's a better picture of the mummy. Julie made this mummy and it was huge and so awesome looking!

In the same area as the mummy was a body part storage area. I actually put this part of the haunted house together (spray painted boxes and all). We found this skeleton in a classroom that wasn't being used, so we decided to let it be a part of the haunted house.

Next to the skeletons was a graveyard, that I also helped with, complete with a lit up tree. By the time I got there to take a picture of it, the black paper on the wall had started coming down from the weight of the tree (we'll have to change it up next year so that doesn't happen), but it still looked good with the lights.

(Here's a picture of it with the lights on and off - how it was while the kids walked through)...

Next up was this awesome ghost that Brad and Julie put together. I can't explain how they did it because it still confuses me a little, but it involved some plastic wrap, some 2x4's, a light, and a hanging ghost. It looked better in person, but this was the best I could get with my camera...

Just past the ghost was this headstone that we had a teenager hiding under. He would jump out and scare the kids as they walked by.

At the end there was another graveyard that had another teenager dressed up as the Grimm Reaper who was also supposed to scare the kids (unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of either of the teens).

The last thing the kids saw as they left the haunted house was this big witch that would go up and down in her cauldron.

Here are some of the teachers that helped out in the haunted house...Mrs. Jones, Ms. Riley, and I don't know the last teacher (she's new to the school this year). Mrs. Jones is Jaron's GATE teacher and he thought it was cool that she was all dressed up. There were a few other teachers that dressed up and helped to scare the kids, but they took off before I could get a picture of them.

Overall, the first fall carnival was a success. There were a ton of people that came and my kids all had a lot of fun. After it was all over I was exhausted and my muscles ached, but it was all worth it. It's fun being able to create fun memories for my kids as they grow up.

(P.S. I want to thank Josh and Brad for building the games for the carnival, they did an awesome job...you guys are the best!)