That happened a couple weeks ago, actually. Last year, for the first time, some of the rides induced some nausea. I like to think that it was because the carnival lacked the "buffer" ride of the bumper cars. The kids like them and so I could always drag them off for a ride there and let my stomach catch up with me from wherever it was flung on some other spinning or whipping ride. Or maybe I'm getting old. Hard for me to say.
My Ex and I took them for a sneak peak the first night just to see the lights and sample the rides.
The real enjoyment started the next day in blazing heat with wrist bands that promise unlimited rides. We stayed 2-1/2 hours and went through quite a bit of lemonade.
The lemonade is always suspect. You can get a medium for $4.00 or a large for $5.00. The large can be refilled for $3.00. I suspect the medium actually has as much lemonade as the large. Actually, I suspect the medium actually has more and they want you to think that at worst they are the same so you break even with the large and a refill over two mediums. But I still tip the guy. What the heck. Carnival life can't be easy so why complain too much about small ruses?
And really, for $20 per wrist band, the kids get lots of entertainment. And Lamb is just barely tall enough so that she doesn't need me to go on the rides. I can send Mister with her and stay on the ground firmly united with my stomach. So there are smiles all around this trip.
And some of the usual rides were great fun, like the hang glider-like one:
The giant slide has lost some of its allure, although Lamb still tried it a couple times:
And one looked like a real stomach separator. Mister agreed. Lamb loved it:
Lamb is on there with a little friend from school who she ran into while we were there.
But no ferris wheel this year! How is that possible? Along with no bumper cars, those were noticeable losses.
But at least the carousel still had a little appeal:
We went once more on the last day, too. Their aunt (my ex sister-in-law) came along, too, and I got her to go on some of the rides, and avoided all rides for the first time. Woo hoo!
And I ate a corn dog. Man, those are good. Once a year can't kill me, right?
It was even hotter than the first day visit, so this time it was just an hour-and-a-half trip. But they still got their money's worth out of the wrist bands (defined as going on more rides than buying equivalent amounts of tickets instead would have achieved).
Lamb also tried one of the games and won three little stuffed fish which she loves even though they probably cost a tiny fraction of the game price. She also tried the ladder climb but fell off every time despite a kind operator who tried to steady it a bit for her.
We finished up with a trip to the pool for some needed cooling off.
Now, with these memories still fresh, July is almost over. And school starts in September. Good grief! summer just really started, didn't it?
