Last Kermes!

Last weekend (June 11th…I know…I’m behind again) was my last Kermes ever here at NPH. Needless to say, I wasn’t too excited about it (although I was THRILLED that it was the last one!) They’ve definitely been flops in the past and I wasn’t too enthusiastic over the theme – “Carnival.”

I was assigned to the group for the water balloon toss and thought…alright. This could definitely be worse. I showed up last Saturday afternoon ready to fill water balloons and was amazed to find all the kids excited to play all the various games that were set up. Among them we had: ring toss, a relay race putting on different clothing and running across the comedor, a new version of musical chairs (music played and when it stopped the kids had to be the first to grab an empty soda bottle in the middle), toss the beanbags, and of course, the water balloon toss.

Maria tossing a bean bag

Playing "musical chairs"

There was a major different between this Kermes and others in the past. Usually the tios and tias bring all of the kids and they play games in sections. In addition, the kids are normally herded between every station according to a set schedule. Instead, this one was completely free – kids could come and go as they pleased and play whatever games they wanted…and what we thought would lead to disaster actually lead to a really fun day!

Michael with Yay yay doing his monkey impression

Luis Fernando aka "Weecho" aka adorable baby!

My station started out INCREDIBLY hectic – kids grabbing water balloons from all angles, stealing them, taking one and having their partner take one so they could continue to play even after they got out, etc. It was exhausting (especially while trying to take pictures at the same time!) But after a few minutes we figured out how to get ourselves organized and everything went smoothly. The kids stood in line, respected the rules, didn’t push each other, stopped stealing the balloons, and waited for their turn – it was amazing (and unheard of!) The kids had a great time playing and we had a constant influx of visitors :).

Water balloon toss!

Yeimy and Jhoselin didn't really understand the balloon toss...but I think that might make them more adorable...

After each round/game, the winners were given tickets with their name and section on them to be put into a raffle prize drawing. Normally at Kermes kids play in teams and the whole team gets little prizes like key chains or pencils. This time around, however, the kids played individually…meaning the prizes were a LOT more awesome than normal (aka games like Connect 4, soccer balls, beanie babies, books, marker sets, etc.) The kids were soooooooooooo excited about winning something for themselves that they had earned and everyone had a wonderful time – it was seriously an amazing Kermes!

The kids ready to get at the prize table!