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Family Fun Festival (Part 1)

The Family Fun Fest was the signature holiday event for Wyoming Pass. Fortunately, the weather was mild this year. There was a decorative coating of snow and the temperatures were just cool enough to keep it there.

The streets were done up in festive holiday style. Street lights bore fairy lights shaped like angels, candles and wreaths in an alternating pattern. Every store had lights around their windows. Most went the extra mile to put on a holiday themed display of merchandise.

Street performers dressed in Victorian garb wandered in caroling bands. Others, dressed as elves, performed magic tricks and juggling acts. Christmas music was piped through the public address system.

Chelsea and Kendra wandered, wide-eyed, down the street, hand in hand with their parents.

“Look, Chelsea.” Her mom said. “There’s Lynn and her family.”

Lynn was already jumping up and down, waving.

“Hi, Steve, we’ve got Chelsea’s bag in the van.” Frank shook his hand.

“Nice to see you again, Frank. How about all this, huh?”

“I haven’t been downtown in years.” Frank looked around at the decorations. “I didn’t realize it had gotten this big.”

Chelsea shook off her mother’s hand to run to Lynn. “Hi! Hi! Hi!”

“Hello, Chelsea! Can you believe all this?” Lynn gave her a big hug.

Kendra held tight to her dad’s hand, scanning the scene. She spotted that guy from the church coming out of the Zavijava. He had on a shiny red ski jacket that made his face look even more afflicted. ‘Not a good color for you, guy.’

“Kendra, come look at the candy cart with us!” Chelsea yelled.

Kendra turned her head to see what they were talking about. When she turned her head back to see where the minister’s son was, he was dressed up as a Victorian caroler. She looked at her parents to see if anyone else had caught that. They were busy talking grownup stuff.

Chelsea grabbed her hand and dragged her away from their dad. “Kendra, come on. Mommy gave us money to get something.”

“You’d better let me hold it. I don’t think you guys can count change.”

Chelsea handed her a crinkled up five-dollar bill. “Wow. Let’s see what they have.”

“Hey, kids!” The elf at the candy stand said. “What’s your favorite?”

“I don’t know!” Lynn laughed as she danced around in front of the cart.

“Take your time.” Kendra said. “See what they’ve got and pick something you like.”

“What do you want, Kendra?” Chelsea pulled her arm insistently.

Kendra adjusted her glasses and scanned the display. “Oh, I like the penguin mints. What are you going to get?”

“Ooh! Look, they have chocolate buttons in Christmas colors!”

Kendra smiled at her sister’s enthusiasm. “What kind do you like, Lynn?”

“Is this actually candy?”

The elf craned his neck to see what she was pointing at.

“It looks like play food for a dollhouse.” Lynn marveled at the tiny fruit sculptures.

“Oh, ha ha, that’s called Marzipan.” The elf said. “It’s almond-flavored. Do you like almonds?”

“Can we try a piece before we buy her the whole thing? Chelsea and I already know what we want.”

“Why, sure!” He reached into the back of the display and brought out a tiny banana. He broke it into three pieces and gave one to each of them. “None of you are allergic to nuts, right?”

They all shook their heads as he handed them the marzipan. Lynn tossed hers right into her mouth. Chelsea and Kendra waited for her to say if it was good or not. The smile on her face told them it was okay for them to try.

“I want that kind!” Lynn cheered.

“Mm, that is good.” Chelsea said.

“Do you want that instead of the chocolate buttons?”

“No, but it is good.”

“It’s okay, I guess. Can we have some penguin mints, chocolate buttons and some marzipan, please?”

“You betcha!” The elf said merrily.

“Did you find something you wanted?” Holly asked.

“He’s just getting it for us.” Kendra said.

“Oh, good. We’re going to go listen to the carolers.”

The elf handed them their candy. Kendra paid and gave the change to her mother. “Where’s Aunt Ivy?”

“She and Ian are around here somewhere. Come on, girls. Let’s go listen to them sing. Hold hands across the street.”

Steve picked Lynn up and kissed her cheek. “What did you get?”

“Look at these fancy little fruits, Daddy.”

“Oh, boy. That is fancy. Does it taste good?”

“Uh-huh, but it doesn’t taste like fruit.”

“It doesn’t?”

“Want some?”

“Just a little piece. I don’t want to eat all your candy.”

She broke off a piece of a strawberry and stuck it in his mouth.

“Mm, almonds. I like marzipan, too. Here, look who’s singing. It’s Dustin from church.”

They stood and watched the carolers on the street corner perform three songs. Everyone applauded.

“Where do you want to go now?” Frank asked his daughters.

“Can we look at the toy store?” Chelsea asked.

“Let’s put it to a vote. All in favor of visiting the toy store, say, aye.”

Lynn and Chelsea raised their hands. Kendra gave a noncommittal shrug. Holly, Nancy and Steve said, “Aye.”

“The ayes have it. Let’s see what’s up at the toy store.”

They took in the sights as they walked to the toy store. The jugglers were putting on quite a spectacle. They had balls that lit up when they bounced on the sidewalk and when the jugglers smacked them to maintain the motion.

Another elf was walking around with a hand pump and a belt loaded with long, skinny balloons. “Hey, kid. Do you like kittens?”

Chelsea nodded, clinging to her mother’s coat sleeve.

He pulled a white balloon from his waistband and inflated it. He hummed Jingle Bells while he twisted, twirled and twisted some more. “There you go, kiddo.” He pointed at Lynn. “Are you on Santa’s Nice List?”

She clung to her dad’s jacket bashfully and nodded.

“I bet you like flowers. Don’t you?”

Her embarrassed grin told him she did.

He pulled a green balloon and a red one from his belt. Almost like magic, he had them inflated and twisted into the shape of a tulip. “There you go, smiley. You have a Merry Christmas. How about you, stretch?”

“No, thanks.” Kendra said. “Merry Christmas.”

The elf shrugged and found some other kids to entertain.

Kendra was looking at all the lights up and down the street when she spied her aunt a few blocks away. She tapped her sister on the shoulder and pointed toward them.

Chelsea sucked a surprised breath. “They’re holding hands!”