Art Festivals Galore

I'm still trying to catch up on the memorable events of the summer, so this time, let's head back to Hayden's birthday weekend for the big summertime event of State College. No I'm not talking about the incredible fireworks display - I already covered that. This time I'm talking about the art festivals and all their crafty, crowded, yummy, music-playing glory.

With Grammy and Granddad in town, we decided to hit both the art festival in State College and the art festival in Boalsburg so as to expose them to the fun times that are summer art fest week. We went to the downtown festival first. Somehow, and I'm still not sure how this worked so well, I managed to pick up Hayden from school, find a parking spot and easily meet up with Jason and his parents on Friday afternoon, one of the biggest days of the festival. Hayden was willing to sit in the stroller and we headed to the Italian Street Painting display first. Hayden wasn't particularly taken with the art; Grammy's charm bracelet was much more interesting.

Perhaps if we had bought her a square to decorate with pastels, she might have been more intrigued. But since her coloring skills consist of a few lines that do not stay in assigned areas, I think we'll save that activity for another year. She and Granddad also did not quite get the interactive art parts either - if done correctly, you can take a picture of someone eating the ice cream cone. But it's hard to convince a two year old, in a stroller, to pretend to lick thin air. Oh well - you still get to see the ice cream cone!
We then wandered around the booths and such, not really stopping for anything in particular, just taking in the sights. Hayden was intrigued by the water play area for kids where buckets of water fall from the sky, but since she barely wanted to walk through the separate misting booth, I'm not sure she's ready for the water area yet either. So many things to look forward to! Eventually we ended up near central parklet and Hayden pointed out the soccer field where Daddy plays to Grammy and Granddad. We also saw the sand sculpture in progress and tried some kettle corn. Hayden wanted out of the stroller by this time, and we let her explore the giant metal art booth, with close monitoring so no person or art got hurt.

With a bribe of more kettle corn, we got Hayden back into the stroller and began the long trek back to the car, stopping to pick up some Thai food for dinner. (it was tasty!). We had a quiet evening and headed to bed at a reasonable hour.

The next day it was time for my favorite festival- the People's Choice Festival in Boalsburg! Why is it my favorite? Well, first, it's on grass, not downtown streets. There's more space to roam around and you can move out of the crowds. The food is clumped in one location with LOTS of tables near by for sitting. The art is more affordable and more to my interest than what you find at the downtown festival. I'll admit it did take us a few years to finally make it to People's Choice but I was so happy when we did! It reminds me a little bit of the Festival for the Eno in Durham, NC which is one of my all-time favorite summer festivals.

So anyway, we packed up supplies and headed out in the morning ready for fun. I'd heard there was a children's area in the middle (generally the art booths are laid out in a BIG circle on this big open grassy area by the military museum) with lots of stuff to interest kids. There was a train ride too, and of course, yummy food to look forward to. We partook of EVERYTHING and I tried to take plenty of pictures for documenting. I'll put them in here in smaller form, to save a little space, but I think if you click on them, you can check them out in a bigger size.

Hayden checks out the bouncy tent - again something else for her to look forward to. She loved watching the kids inside, but didn't really want to join them.
The first activity we explored in the activity tent. Searching through tiny pebbles for special seashell treasures. Hayden took everything I found and showed her, and put it in the big conch shell. Hayden, Daddy, and Grammy figure out how to make the ball circle around the funnel. Let's just say that Daddy and Grammy figured it out quick, Hayden still has some learning to do. But she was really good at just dropping it in the hole!
Hayden scoops some sort of grain at one of her favorite stations. Scooping and pouring are at the top of her favorite repetitive activities list!Hayden and Daddy play with the Zen garden. Soon, Hayden was joined by Noah!

After play time in the activity tent, it was time for food! It was a hard choice, but we all managed to pick some yummy items to sample. Jason had barbecue, I had a gyro, Grammy and Granddad had crepes. Hayden ate a whole piece of cheese pizza at her selection. (It makes me so happy when she chooses a food at something like this AND eats it. I consider that an amazing feat for a toddler!) We even managed to find a table where all of us, including Noah, Mandy and Scott, could all sit down and eat. After eating lunch, Hayden, Noah and Grammy went one tent over to listen to the band that was playing, while Jason and I went to secure dessert. I hear there was lots of dancing involved; Noah especially had a good time! I made it back in time to see a little bit of dancing, and some enthusiastic clapping.

But after some picture taking, I had to get back to my dessert: fried oreos, funnel cake and a strawberry smoothie. I'll chalk this up to pregnancy cravings, but I probably would have wanted this even if I wasn't pregnant. After all, there are only so many times you can get a funnel cake, fried oreos are just TERRIFIC, and with all that warm food, you need something cold to wash it down with! For the record, I was fully intending to share all three options with whoever wanted some - all that dessert was not just for me!

funnel cake oreos

Hayden ended up trying just a tiny taste of funnel cake and then she was taken off for an ice cream cone with Grammy and Granddad. Check out these pics and tell me if you think she enjoyed it!



It was about time to head home after we finished lunch. We checked out some more of the booths, and Grammy and Hayden tried out the train.
We managed to get back to the car and on the road just before a big storm rolled through. I think everyone took a good long nap when we got back to the house. I did anyway, and Hayden did too! What a great way to spend a summer Saturday - festivaling! And the next day was Hayden's birthday, so all in all, it was a GREAT weekend!