Oktoberfest at German Park

In typical Friday night fashion, we wanted to go out to eat but didn't know where.  It's just so BOOOOOOORING eating around here...very little that's unique or interesting here on the southside, and by the time we would get downtown on the northside, we'd have to wait over an hour to eat (which is like being in the 7th circle of hell with a toddler :)  So, I was pretty happy that Joacim suggested Oktoberfest...since I had completely forgotten that it was going on this weekend.

The last few years have been at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, and that's not really a great spot to have it when comparing to the German-American club park.  The park is shaded and hilly...secluded from the highway..just "quaint", while the fairgrounds are essentially a giant concrete parking lot with no trees.  No comparison.  So I was happy to hear that they were moving it back here to the southside.

It didn't take long for Izzy to start getting antsy in her stroller...I knew we were done with that as soon as she saw the bounce houses.  Do you know how hard it is to convince her that Mamma promises we'll come back to jump once we're done eating.  This girl is very suspicious....

And, as luck (and the Germans) would have it, the beer trailer is the first thing you pass as you walk in :)  This is a beautiful site, isn't it? (and this guy's shirt was funny...it said "Does this shirt make my bass look fat?"...ok, I thought it was funny! :)

Dinner.  Yummy.  Beer.  Yummy (and large)

As promised, a trip to the bounce house (and as I figured, she was afraid)

So I got in there with her!  To hear her laugh made it totally worth it!

I gotta tell ya, even though I was a "big kid" in there, I was getting pretty tossed around by the other kids...can only imagine what it's like for Izzy in her tiny little body...

Not one of my shining moments

We bailed on the bounce house pretty soon after that because the other kids were just too big and rowdy for her, so we headed over to the pony rides because she REALLY wanted to ride a horsey!  We both kind of expected THIS expression

But it got a little bit better

And I know you can't see this very well, but at the end she was totally fine, and petted the pony after she was done.  Great job, kiddo!

Ok, I'm not a fan of flash, but at this point, there wasn't much of a way to get a decent photo.  You can't see it very well here because of my logo, but her hands (and pretty much everything else) are covered in dust from the gravel she was playing in and pouring over her head :)

And the other best part of Oktoberfest for me?  Strudel.  Need I say more?