A Day with the Starlight Foundation in Bethesda

My family recently was invited to a picnic at the Bethesda Day School in Bethesda, Maryland, which is where I would expect the Bethesda Day School. The picnic was sponsored by the Starlight Children's Foundation, an organization that provides entertainment opportunities to families with children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses or life-altering injuries.

We knew there would be horse rides for the children. All the way there my daughter with leukemia kept telling me that she was going to ride a horse. Over. And over. And over again. We think she might have been excited.

We arrived to see a field of several tents. We quickly registered, refusing name tags (unlike Martin O'Malley, I feel that people don't need to know who I am!), and made a straight line for the horses. My daughter quickly got up on the horse with a little help, showing absolutely no fear. My other 2 kids also got on the horses. All were very excited. The horse ride was just around several cones for about 2 minutes, but that didn't matter. My youngest daughter had a smile that glowed from the other side of the field.


After the horse ride we did the moon bounce for a couple of minutes before my youngest daughter decided she didn't like it. We then went for some face and hand painting. Next to them was the snowballs and cotton candy (pronounced codin' candy).


When we finished those activities we decided to eat. They offered burgers, hot dogs, and turkey burgers, chips, watermelon, and drinks. Soon, like in This Week In Baseball, there were Gathering Crowds.


In addition to the horses, there were also bunnies and goats to pet. And LOTS of sanitizer.


We were soon mingling with some of the people from the Starlight Children's Foundation. We remembered Farrah from the circus. And there was another lady, but unfortunately I don't remember her name. But her husband tells me she loves Martin O'Malley. She said they got a kick out of this blog. I guess because the organization has done many wonderful things for my family, I can't fault her for liking Marty. He is cute. I just don't like his politics. And like a good Republican, I can agree to disagree and not hate the other side. Unlike the arrogant and closed-minded Jon Stewart.

My daughter rode the horses (actually they were ponies) several more times. It was getting hot and we were getting done. We got in the car and within 2.5 seconds, my youngest daughter was asleep. THAT is a sign of a successful day!

Thank you, Starlight Children's Foundation!