Sunday, May 25, 2014

An Evening at the Carnival

Our local volunteer fire department is having their annual carnival this weekend so we decided to take the kids for an hour or two this evening. It opened at 5pm and we got there a little before the rides started. The last time we went parking was minimal so we wanted to be sure to get decent parking and get out of there before it was too crowded. Going right when they opened was perfect for us.

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There isn’t a price to get in, but lord are the ride tickets expensive. It’s basically $1 a ticket and each ride was 3/4 tickets depending on the ride. That’s pretty pricey for a little carnival ride, in my opinion. And the games were worse. They were almost all $5 each. Pop a balloon for $5. Throw a ball at a can for $5. Pick up a plastic duck for $5. Ridiculous. But, this is likely the only carnival we’ll go to this year and the money goes to our local firemen, so we spent the money and felt like we were doing a good deed at the same time. It’s what we’re telling ourselves anyways.

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The first thing the boys did was go running through the obstacle course. Harper wasn’t old enough to go alone but he’s lucky to have a cool older brother that was happy to go with him. As soon as they made it down the slide, Harper tried to run right back on to do it again. He loved it! (We ended up going back and letting them go through again.)

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Landon wanted a chance at the shooting range and he was actually a pretty good shot! He hit quite a few targets.

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Next up was the Ferris wheel. Dakota, Harper, Tony and Landon rode it together. Dakota was eager to get on it but Landon said she’d cried a little at first. She seemed pretty happy about the whole thing when she got off though while Harper just seemed indifferent. Not too exciting I suppose.

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What Dakota really wanted to ride was the swings. She kept going over to them and pointing and saying “swing, swing” but she’s just not tall enough yet. Harper had no interest in them whatsoever, he pretty much just wanted to get back on the obstacle course.

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Landon was dying to try the dunking booth, so we headed there next. He got his three balls and immediately the guy in the booth started heckling him. Landon’s first throw was too high and he started to lose his confidence. He said he couldn’t throw anymore or something like it, but grabbed his second ball for another shot. Again he missed and he turned around looking defeated, but Zoe and I assured him he could totally do this if he’d just concentrate…and, with his third ball, he sunk that fireman! Confidence restored!

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There was some hooting and hollering and high fives and then a little voice behind me saying he wanted a turn too. Harper just had to give it a go…you know, he’s gotta be cool like his big brother! They let him stand really close and even gave him smaller baseballs to use, but he wasn’t able to sink him…until the lady picked him up and let him push the big button! Down went the fireman, and oh my goodness, Harper’s face was priceless! He had his hands up to his mouth in disbelief at what he’d done! He was so proud yet unsure about whether or not he should have pushed the button.

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Next was a ride on the dragon:

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Another game; Harper won this one fair and square. No one helped him at all! He beat Landon and Dakota/Tony. :)

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Then a ride on a motorcycle.

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And an airplane.

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While the boys were on their second run through the obstacle course, I took Dakota to ride the merry-go-round. She LOVED it!

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We had a good time at the carnival and once our tickets were gone, we headed home for the night. The kids all said they’d had a good time and that’s always nice to hear!

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