Bennett Fall Festival!

Jen flew out to D.C. Thursday afternoon, abandoning us for a full week. The kids and I decided to go to Bennett Elementary's Fall Festival Friday night.

It was quite a production. The gym was filled with kids dashing from one corner to the next, bursting through the lines of other, better-behaved, kids waiting to get into one of the two moonbounces (princess, or Superman, depending on your preference), or the giant obstacle-course/slide:

Ellie managed to climb up the 20-foot slide very well (left); I don't know why I was concerned.

Elsewhere, door prizes and bags of candy were being handed out (not exactly what kids need on any Nov. 3; perhaps the extra will just get lost in the overwhelming post-Halloween sugar rush). They had all sorts of games and activities – basketball shooting, football tossing, and so forth.

A call had gone out for parents to send in a plastic soda bottle that had been cut open and refilled with some sort of fun stuff for kids. At the festival, kids picked a number from a hat and were given the corresponding bottle. Katie and Ellie were given beautifully elaborate bottles (left), which delighted them (note the dollar bill in Ellie's!).

Joey was even more thrilled by his bottle (right). My guess is the organizers thought they were going to run short, and a local supermarket came through with extra bottles. Terrific. I think that bottle of Dew contains more caffeine than Joey has consumed in his entire life. He was very understanding when I insisted that I had to replace it with a bottle of non-caffeinated soda the next time we went to the grocery store.

Bennett's principal was there, and asked me how Joey and Katie were adjusting to their new school. Very sharp! I had the feeling that had the answer been "not very well," she would have known that already.