Even without snow, families find fun at Addison's WinterFEST

When you plan an event for a Sunday afternoon in January, you have to brace yourself for the cold. Or the unseasonable warmth. Or the snow. Or the lack of snow.

And Addison Park District's WinterFEST organizers were ready for anything with a combination of activities designed to make the most of whatever weather Mother Nature and Jack Frost served up.

Families flocked to Community Park on Sunday to enjoy horse-drawn wagon rides and s'mores made with marshmallows toasted over a fire pit.

When the air began to feel chilly, families headed inside the Community Recreation Center for bingo games, face painting, a cookie-decorating craft, a photo booth and even an indoor snowball fight with cotton balls standing in for the snow that was missing outside. Participants also were able to enter a pie-eating contest, and children could work off their energy on an inflatable obstacle course, slide and bounce house.

Had the weather blanketed the park with fluffy snow, Winterfest visitors would have been able to go sledding or snowshoeing, play snow golf or snow football, or express themselves by painting the snow. Though the weather didn't lend itself to those activities on Sunday, there's always next year.