The Pumpkin Festival Is Here

I am so excited for the Pumpkin Festival. It starts today and while I can't make it until tomorrow the excitement it definitly in the air. Yes, even in Palatine there is P-Fest excitement brewing. We're coming, Pete and Hannah will be there, Nate and Tanya, and even our friends Matt and Chanda are bringing their girls down on Saturday for some Pumpkin goodness. And Mortonites all over Facebook are talking about it. All of this causes me to wonder, why exactly do we love the P-Fest so much? It's a pretty darn good festival as festivals go. At least compared to what I've seen up here. But I don't think that's what draws crowds and brings people home every fall. I think it has a lot to do with nostalgia and food. The chance to see old friends and classmates and enjoy more pumpkin flavored foods than you realized existed.  And then of course there is one of the best drinks known to man. The apple cider slushie. So delicious. I even have my Uncle Bud's reusable cup to bring with me this year so I can get a discount on the slushies I'm sure to drink this weekend. It is always enjoyable to walk around the festival grounds with no plans to ride rides or play games but rather hoping to run into old familiar faces. And now as time goes on and families are born it's something special to bring your kids back home to where you grew up and let them enjoy what you once did. Riding the scrambler, going down the big slide, collecting candy from the parade, trying to find your matching MCB bank number, thinking about but never playing the arcade games and eating elephant ears, corn dogs, porkchops, pumpkin pancakes and of course apple cider slushies.