The Big Dipper with the Family July 16, 2011

Looking at some pictures I realized I forgot to blog about The Big Dipper all-you-can-eat ice cream festival which was a fun and inexpensive outing with the family.  It was hosted at Elm Park from 10:30am - 5:30pm and offered a wide variety of inexpensive family fun as well as  all-you-can-eat ice cream available for an admission fee of $5 for ages 10 and up, $2 for ages 5- 9 and free for children under 4.   

Pay for fun tickets were $1 per ticket and activities ranged from 1 ticket - 3 tickets.  Activities included Moonwalks, face painting, bookmark decorating, and coloring tables.  There was also a food tent with grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, ice cold drinks and snacks available.

We enjoyed the bubble table which required no tickets and consisted of bubble soap trays and a variety of objects to blow bubbles.  Objects ranged from traditional shaped bubble wands to non-conventional objects such as potato masher, several different slotted spoons, foam door hangers and other "who-would've-thought" around the house objects.

The Polar soda mascot made an appearance but despite his friendly demeanor Olivia was terrified.  I tried to get a picture but she was so scared I had to literally run as far away and in the quickest time as possible.   

There were also clowns which is another common phobia of children Livi's age but, to our surprise Livi wasn't scared.  She was hesistant but not terrified.  Maybe this was because they weren't as done up as your typical circus clowns.  Whatever the reason she was quite content with her purple dog shaped balloon made by one of the clowns  This was another activity that required no tickets. 


The other piece of amusement that Olivia enjoyed was the Moonwalks.  There were two moonwalks one for ages 8 and up and one for ages 7 and under.  The only issue I had with this activity was that it wasn't really organized.  People were all lining up in one line rather than 2 and it wasn't timed so you had to wait in line at the mercy of a child having a bouncing blast to come out.  It was a difficult wait for parents like myself who had toddlers as it was extremly hot with no shade and the length of time was making them restless and cranky.  When it was finally our turn we were told that my niece who was 9 (we noticed the sign on the ground at this point) could not go in with Olivia and said we would have to go to the moonwalk for ages 8 and up.  I thought we would have to wait in line yet again but like I said the other one had no line.  So we could have saved ourselves 30-45 min standing in the hot sun.  But, what counts is that Livi had a blast once she was finally allowed into the Moonwalk.  This activity was 3 tickets = $3 per child regardless of age.

 You could also enter raffles for prizes in exhange for x amount of tickets.  Walking around there was political persons trying to collect names for ability to have their name on ballots.  There so many occassions in my life where I have to pay attention to detail, facts and so on but I just felt this was not one of them.  I tried to listen to there pitch but really it wasn't why I was there.  I just wanted to enjoy an outing with my daughter, husband (who came into town on a surprise visit), sister and niece.  I eventually found out that if you say you're not a registered voter they will walk on by as quickly as they made themselves visible. 

Organizations such as NEADS puppies, The Lions Sightmobile were providing free hearing and vision screening, and Child Protection Resources offered free fingerprinting and photo/ID's for the kids.  The fire engine was also present later in the day for children to interact with the firemen and touch the hose. 

All proceeds benefited the programs of Children's Friend founded in 1849 and is the oldest child and family service agency in central Massachusetts.

For food we went to the hot dog/ ice cream truck which had a hot dog special (2 dogs, chips and soda for $4.50) and ate under an oak tree by the playground.  It was a nice way to spend a Saturday.  I think we'll attend next year but I hope there's more activities for the younger children Livi's age.