Jaxtoberfest

This past Saturday, we went to Jaxtoberfest downtown. Just like with the corn maze/farm/pumpkin patch from the previous weekend, I saw tickets for Jaxtoberfest on Living Social and jumped on them. Little did we know, admission was free before 1:00 p.m. anyway, so we didn't even need tickets. Money-saving fail! Ah, well. A good time was had by all, so what can you do.

We arrived just an hour after opening (comfortably before 1:00 p.m., of course), and it was not yet very crowded. Eric and I also chuckled at our lingering New York mindset, having opted to bring the umbrella stroller instead of our City Mini, because the City Mini is bulkier and thus the umbrella is easier to maneuver through tightly crowded places. However, our idea of "crowded" is still "New York-crowded," in which you can barely take a breath without invading someone's personal space. In Florida, you have a little more breathing room and the City Mini would've been fine (in fact, even better for navigating the grassy field). We'll adjust eventually, I'm sure! And then someday we'll go back to NYC for a visit and be all, "OMG, how do people live here, so crowded, I wouldn't be able to stand it!" Oh, future self - you're such a tourist!

Anyway. We arrived. It wasn't super crowded.

Welcome to Jaxtoberfest!

General scene, including an oversized beer pong field in front

Also, I have to stop for a second to show off Ellie's adorable lederhosen, handcrafted by her mother (or her mutter, if you will!):

Is she not the sweetest little fräulein you ever did see?

Can I work some magic with felt or what? I just wanted my little part-German girl to be authentic! (Well, aside from the fact that she should have been wearing a dirndl instead of lederhosen, but we'll just overlook that little tidbit and once again marvel at how cute and German she looks.)

We spent some time wandering around, checking out the games and the kids' area. Eric did a little tossing of the football (expertly, of course, as a quarterback coach should). Ellie loved all the (plastic) pumpkin-throwing games they had set up for kids, including pumpkin bowling and sort of pumpkin-toss/cornhole game. She was all about that. We also decorated pumpkins and listened to some live music.

Coach Eric showing us how it's done

Pumpkin bowling

Pumpkin decorating

Finished product! (I helped; her hearts aren't quite that well-formed yet)

"Touchdown, Ellie!"

"You're right, Dad! I nailed it! Touchdown!"

"Can't do any better than that. I'm out of here!"

Just running around Jaxtoberfest, being generally adorable

There were also people handing out paper hats in support of a local naval museum, which Ellie (and Eric) enjoyed, and we caught the start of the many games of the day: keg-rolling races.

Sailor Ellie

It's a nice look for Eric.

Watching the keg rolling

Oopsies!

By that time, Ellie was starting to wind down and we were getting on towards lunch and nap time, so we called it a day. But it was a gorgeous morning (as evidenced by all that clear blue sky in the above pictures) at a fun event, so overall, we really had a great time. Thanks, Jaxtoberfest!

Smiles on the way out!

Yay, fun!