Carnival!

One of those rinky-dink-held-together-with-chewing-gum-and-duct-tape-type carnivals set up camp at the local mall this month. I noticed it on my way to the book exchange one day and realized it would be criminal not to take the kids. Larkin has been excited about the idea of County Fairs and carnivals for some time... thanks in part, I think, to Charlotte's Web.

When we got there, it was *totally* dead. We were almost always the only people on the rides and there was no waiting in lines. With one big exception, it was a blast.

Bad news first: Larkin and I went on the "Spider" and it was deemed Totally Not Fun. It's one of those big whirly fast moving contraptions that I really didn't think she would like. We watched it go a few times, talked about how fast it was going, how sometimes spinning that way made people sick to their stomach (okay, I said "oogy"), that it was like a merry-go-round only much much more so, etc. I mean, I used every experience she had under her belt that I could think of to describe it to her. Driving fast on windy roads almost convinced her, but she hasn't really been car sick since she was 18 months old so it just wasn't enough to dissuade her. In the end, either we were getting on it or I was going to pull a power play and Larkin would forever feel like I was making her miss out on something fabulous. Luckily, we were the only ones on the ride and the kind operator stopped as soon as he saw Larkin screaming bloody murder and me waving at him rather expressively. I actually like that kind of ride, but I think the whole experience was worse for me than for Larkin... she was fine after a few minutes of cuddling on a stationary bench, but I still feel some pretty heart-wrenching guilt. I asked her the next day if she thought I shouldn't have taken her on the ride and she said she was glad I let her decide. She also said that the next time I told her she might not enjoy something, she'd try really hard to remember the Spider. Hallelujah.

They had a carousel, so Finn was happy. I think he rode every horse there by the end of our trip. They both loved the little airplanes, too. That was another one that I had to ride with them because they were under the height limit for independent riding.

There was also a mini dragon swing, bumper cars (Finn was Enraged when he discovered that he couldn't reach the pedal and would have to ride with an adult), the obligatory ferris wheel, and a climbing structure with rope ladders and plank bridges that led up to a 3 story slide onto an inflated landing. They did that last one about 5 times in a row.

Larkin was ready to play *a lot* of those skill games that cost five dollars and get you a stuffed duck... if you're lucky. After trying one for the experience (darts and balloons) she was open to the idea that a trip to a thrift store and five dollars to spend on stuffed animals would be a lot more fun. We definitely have a home-made darts and balloons set-up in our near future. We just might need to have a carnival game party. I mean, small children and darts sounds like fun, yes?