MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. -- No matter how hard a day may be, once you arrive at home and see the bright smile of your children, the weight and stress of the long day fades away.
The Lifelong Learning Library teamed up with various Combat Center organizations and units April 26, 2011, to say “thank you” to the children who bring great joy to the service men and women around the Corps with a carnival at Felix Field.
Children of all ages participated in various events which included sack races, a bean bag toss, a bounce house, a game of “Ring Around the Rosie” with students from Bravo Company, Marine Corps Communication-Electronics School, and an obstacle course, which held as much fun for the adults as it did for the kids. Many parents enjoyed watching their loved ones attack the course, weaving in and out of cones with cat-like agility as if they were participating in the National Football League Scouting Combine.
When not participating in physical events, the children were entertained by face-painting clowns. Animals and various superheroes were on many smiling faces. One carnival-goer’s measure of the event’s success rested on the success of his new disguise.
“Of course [he’s enjoying himself]; he has Spiderman on his face!,” explained the mini-comic book hero’s mother, Jeanalin Rehm, who traveled from San Diego for the event.
After three hours, the field’s visitors were slowing down and well-earned sweat marks streaked through face paint.
The goal of the carnival was to “give a celebration for the service-members and their children,” said Ursula Morales, the event’s coordinator.
Judging the numerous amounts of smiles present at the field, one would have to say the mission was accomplished and the day a success.