The F.I.N.D.S. Picnic

Last night was the annual summer picnic for the Family Ideas Network for Down Syndrome group (of which I've been president since December). So this was the first big event I was in charge of. It wasn't too bad, all I had to do was follow what we'd done in the past, and everyone had a great time! We had about 100 people there, half adults and half kids. We started out with games and face painting. A couple of young women from my ward helped out with the games. They were simple, like beanbag throws and a duck pond. I also had the kids pick up ten pieces of garbage to get a prize (in the past we've had scavenger hunts, but this was easier and more earth-friendly). The face painters were great, Noah had a zebra on one arm, and an elephant on his other arm, his head, and his tummy! Noah's two best buddies, Leah and Vanessa, were there and the three of them played together all night. They haven't seen eachother much over the summer, so it was a joyful reunion for them! We had a huge buffet dinner with sub sandwiches and then appetizers and desserts that everyone brought. After dinner we had door prizes (we won a croquet set, I'm excited to try it out!) and then dancing and music. Our DJ was Lisa Gomez, she's done parties for us several times in the past and the kids just love her. She plays fun songs like "the Silly Dance Contest" and the chicken dance and the kids just go nuts. Noah danced the entire hour. I wish I had a better camera but I did get a few good pictures and I'll try to load the video as well.