Reed Family Review: Popcorn Fest

Bet you didn't know that Orville Redenbacher was from Valparaiso Indiana? Or that there is a statue of him downtown? Or that there is a Popcorn Fest every September??
This year the girls were in the parade for Lady Viking Soccer (LVS) and Jacob and I walked with the YMCA. I taught water classes and Jacob and I taught preschool fitness classes together there. The Popcorn Fest fell during Jared's crazy weeks so we were on our own. It would've been nice to have him as a chauffeur. I had to try to figure out where to park being as Jacob and I needed to meet our group in a different location than the girls. The parade had around 100 floats/groups. The YMCA was near the front and LVS was in the middle so we were lined up quite a distance from each other. Plus, I figured at the end of the day we would want to be closer to the car. I found a spot that about equidistant from the three different locations. Jacob and I still did not have our Y parade shirts so we first headed over to that meeting spot. Then we walked back past the car and dropped the girls off at their meeting spot with one of the coaches. We then ran back to our spot just in time to get a few pictures and leave.

Most of the other kids were pushed or choose to ride in the Y Care school bus but Jacob stayed with me and walked the whole parade route. I wish I had worn my GPS watch so I could've had a tally of the total miles he walked that day but it was HOT so I hadn't worn anything extra. The girls were supposed to take candy to throw so I had brought some for Jacob to hand out. The YMCA didn't think candy went with a healthy lifestyle so didn't let him pass it out. He was devastated and barely smiled and waved as we walked as a result. So, when we got to the end of the route, he insisted we go back and walk with the girls instead of waiting for them at the finish. We ran backwards down the route until we found the LVS girls. A whole different Jacob emerged. He smiled and waved and threw his candy proudly. When we arrived at the parade route the 2nd time we again walked part way back along the route until we found an empty spot where we could squeeze in and watch the rest of the parade. When it finished we walked about 6 bocks to the town square which was at the center of the rest of the activities.
Here are the kids in front of two of our favorite floats which are made almost entirely out of parts of a corn plants and corn products.

Notice their bulging bags? They used the empty bags that had held their candy to collect their own candy during the second portion of the parade
We walked around some of the booths downtown. There were lots of craft booths set up and we stopped at the ones set up by people in the ward. We bought some kettlecorn and dollar hotdogs and tried to find a semi shady place to sit and eat.

After we were done eating we still had about a 10 block trek back to our car. It was a fun but tiring day. I was really impressed with Jacob. With as far as he walked and as hot as it was, he was quite the little trooper. On a side note with the girls neon jerseys and Jacob's bright yellow shirt, it was very easy to keep track of them in the crowds! Shortly after we got home, Jacob disappeared. We found him passed out on his bedroom floor snuggling his blanket sandwiched between some toys he'd been playing with. Guess the little guy got completely worn out!