It has officially begun; hundreds of little siblings have invaded Kent State. Dylan Marin is just one of those children who arrived Friday to participate in the annual Lil Sibs weekend, which is hosted by the Kent Interhall Council.

Ten-year-old Dylan, along with his 5-year-old sister Lexy Marin, is spending the weekend with his two older cousins, Kristen and Candice Binggeli. This will be the first time he and his sister have been to Lil Sibs weekend.

The day started out with registration, T-shirt pick-ups and a lot of sweets and goodies that mom probably would not approve of. It then moved into an evening full of games, prizes and laughter at the Magic Wizard Carnival.

“I wanted them to come and experience college life,” said Kristen Binggeli, a senior education major. “Lexy told her whole kindergarten class that she was going to college.”

This is Kristen’s fourth year having her younger siblings and cousins come and participate in Lil Sibs with her. Candice, now a freshman visual communication design major, spent the previous three Lil Sibs weekends with her older sister before attending Kent State.

While some crowded around the magician who was at the carnival in Eastway, Dylan and Lexy spent the better part of the evening playing games and wining prizes.

For Dylan, who likes pizza and playing soccer, his favorite game of the night was a kid’s version of cornhole, where he won a kite.

After playing many of the games offered at the carnival, Dylan, his sister and older cousins left loaded down with prizes and new memories. They planned on spending the rest of the night tie-dying and watching movies in Kristen’s room.

“Everything is going great,” said Cassie McClelland, the vice president of programming and development for KIC. “The students and the siblings seem to really be enjoying themselves.”

Contact room and board reporter Sarah McGrath at [email protected].