Their Moonlanding

When I was a kid, growing up in small town, PA, we looked so forward to our summer carnival. It was for one week every summer, third week in July (and still is). It was the highlight of the summer, especially when I was a teenager. It was full of games, rides, familiar faces, cute boys, great food and fireworks (on the last night). It was a blast! Excitement seemed to fill the whole town as evening approached and the carnival was about to begin. It was referred to as the Moon Landing celebration, appropriately named for our town. I have made the trip to PA at the right time some years, and have taken my children to this exciting event. Only it wasn't as exciting for them as I remember it being for me. They enjoyed it very much, but it isn't "theirs".

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My children don't have that annual carnival here where we live. We have The Fair. It's about 5 minutes from our house and I've taken the kids almost every year since they were really little. We missed last year and when I mentioned to Taylor that we were going this year, I saw it. I saw in her the same excitement I used to feel, back in my home town. She was pretty happy about my decision to make a point of going this year. We ordered the tickets ahead of time, so I couldn't change my mind. ;)

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We went on Wednesday, before the rides opened so we could continue our tradition of visiting the animals first.

These were my favorites! The three little pigs! So freakin' cute! I know they are pigs and will grow up and more than likely be pretty stinky buggers, but right now I could just pick them up and snuggle the cuteness right out of them!

This mama and baby were precious, too....

On to the rides! Taylor was planning on meeting her boyfriend there, but he was coming a little later. So Taylor and Skylar took off for a while to ride the big, fast, you're-out-of-your-mind rides, while I took the younger two to the sane rides.The one below looks like a regular round the track car ride, but it's actually like the whip at Kennywood in PA. He loved it! And poor Alexa was a teensy bit jealous that she was too tall.

Evan's favorite thing in the whole place. Yeah, he loved being able to jump, and jump and jump. Wish I had a room in my house for this.

Game time......go fishing and win a

light saber. okay.

Or a cute little purple monkey. Alexa won the banana at a different game. Look at the expression on the banana's face. He's like, "I knew she couldn't resist my charm". Little does he know, he's just a food source for that monkey.

We caught up with Taylor and Sky at this ride. I remember riding this same ride at our carnival with my big sister. It was my first fast ride EVER. She kept telling me to laugh.....instead of panic and embarrass her, I assume. But it worked. And I loved it after that.

Tattoos....panda for Sky

Malifiscent for Alexa (it glows in the dark)

This very cool contraption is an old fashioned homemade ice cream maker. The ice cream it makes is quite yummy.

Sky and I had the peach, Evan and Alexa had chocolate. Wish I had a spare room for that machine.

We took our ice cream over to wait for a magic show. Got great seats that way, and had a place to sit down to eat. Sky volunteered to join in the show. I have a whole video of it. She had fun with it.

A very large balloon.....he used a leaf blower to blow it up. no joke.

Alexa got to pet the little magic bunny used in the show.

This lovely "hat" was from her role in the show. Oh yeah, she got her cow groove on. Really, you'll have to see the video. I'll try to get on that.

There is a ride I've seen at the fair many times. I wouldn't have even rode it as a teen, during my bravest years. It looks like a nightmare to me. It combines spinning, jostling around and very tight spaces. No, no, nopety no. Sky was game. She begged me to let her go on. Well, I can't let my fears influence my children, or at least I shouldn't. So I let her go on. Wow. (found out later that Taylor rode it too)As you can see, she survived. And then went right back on. You go girl! Better you than me.

Bumper cars! Who doesn't love bumper cars?!A fun house....they said it was fun, anyway. I didn't go in, so I couldn't say. I'll take their word for it.

We met up with Taylor and her boyfriend. They reminded me of my teen years, going to our carnival when John and I were dating. Ahhh....the good ol' days. To be young again.

Getting late.....time for some final rides....

We spent several hours at the fair, and made lots of memories. The kids all thanked me profusely and said what a fun day it was. I think we need to go back again next year, too. I'm pretty sure they'll agree.

Hope your summer is still a blast! Enjoy every second of it! Make it special!

TTFN

~Tina