PEEPS Fest

The title sounds a little risque but I assure you this is a family friendly post.

We had lots of options for New Year's Eve-see a giant Peeps chicken drop or a crayon.  Not many people could say that.

When I lived in Pottsville (yes, the birthplace of Yuengling beer) they had a ball drop at the square.  Actually, I don't remember if it was a ball or if it was something else.  According to Wikipedia, they drop a bottle of Yuengling beer.  I guess that's better than a 100-pound stick of Lebanon bologna like in Lebanon, PA.  My first apartment was right below the square so I hosted a New Year's party for my family one year. That was the only time I ever braved the cold to see any type of countdown. Like most people, I do have embarrassing photos from New Year's parties I've attended.  As you've probably guessed that was BK (before kids) and yes, there was usually alcohol involved.

I usually find New Year's anticlimactic anyway, at least that is how I've felt the last few years.  Maybe it is a sign that I am starting to accept what is and am not worrying so much about everything.  

Since my sister-in-law was in town we decided to check out Peeps Fest with the kids.  What kid wouldn't want to see a big yellow fiberglass chicken drop from the sky? The Peep drop was also at 6:15 pm so it wasn't past any of our bedtimes.  Why were they dropping a Peep?  Just Born, the maker of Peeps is based in Bethlehem.

There was something oddly beautiful about being amid the old rusting former Bethlehem Steel plant where SteelStacks (the arts & cultural campus) is located. 

We were to late to see any of the free events inside.  We didn't want to arrive to early since we had 5 kids to corral and if they had gotten to restless we would have had to leave. We did get to walk around inside the ArtsQuest building though.  This was no easy feat with a sit-n-stand stroller that isn't the most maneuverable thing to begin with amidst all of the people milling around. 

People were looking at me a little odd when I climbed up on the small ladder to take a picture of the chalk drawing (the center pic).  I assumed that was why it was there since the picture looked three-dimensional from the top.  The PEEPS tree looked good enough to eat (even though I am not a fan of the confection that tree almost convinced me to try one again).

According to Emmy, the best part of the PEEPS drop was getting a pack of marshmallow trees after the PEEPs chicken dropped.

 
Oh, and we did attempt to stay up anyway.  We managed, barely.  The kids didn't make it of course.  We did have a dance party in the basement until bedtime though. 

As far as embarrassing New Year's photos, there is one of me dancing with Emmy wiggling our butts doing one of the songs from Just Dance For Kids on the Wii. Some things never change...

How did you ring in the New Year?