Last Saturday the kids went fishing for the first time. Our town had a fishing derby, and the kids had a really great time. My daughter really enjoyed fishing and can't wait to go again, my sons...they thought fishing was a little boring but they would like to go again. No one caught a fish, but they really wanted to! One of my daughters really good friends won the fishing derby by catching 33 fish! Ha! We didn't even get a nibble.
For them the caption would read: "We went fishing for the first time and all we got were these shirts" haha! But they didn't mind, they did have fun.
They gave up on fish and decided to do some frog hunting instead. The frogs were too quick for them too. But they had fun looking for them and looking for tadpoles.
How is it possible for her to look this adorable while fishing? Complete with a hair bow! When I go fishing I look like a hot mess. Frizzy hair, sweaty, sun burned, and I always end up muddy. She goes fishing? She just looks awesome.
Thursday we went and hung out at the carnival that's in town. *sigh* Good thing we were saving up for that event ahead of time because we always spend way more than we plan on spending. However, the kids had a blast and it is something they only get to do once a year because we generally avoid going to the county fair other than to see the live stock and some of the other events they have out there (it's just too hot by the middle of July for a carnival/fair, ha!)
The kids rode tons of rides ($20 a piece for freaking wrist bands, it's high way robbery I tell you!! Three dollars PER TICKET if you want to do it that way. I'd rather by the freaking wrist band).
They had so much fun getting dizzy, however I did NOT have fun getting dizzy. I realized several things while at the carnival.
I am fat. Those stupid bars and safety belts, while they still fasten around me safely...they are NOT comfortable anymore (not that they have ever been comfortable, just a little more so now).
I am old. Far too old to be spinning, and upside, and yanked here and there and flying at super fast speeds that make me feel like I'm about to break the sound barrier. My energy level my say YES!! WE CAN DO THIS!! THIS IS GOING TO BE SOOO MUCH FUN!!! Later my brain and body go OMG What the HELL were you thinking!! Are you trying to kill yourself??? Who are you trying to impress riding these dangerous rides??
I am TOO MUCH OF A MOM NOW.
Ack. I think I sprouted about a million more gray hairs. Those carnival rides are SOOO dangerous! How on earth did I ride them when I was younger? I had a death wish I'm sure. Now when I see my sweet innocent tiny fragile children get on those rides...all I see are the MILLIONS of ways it could go horribly wrong and kill my children in some sort of freak FINAL DESTINATION accident. Morbid. I hate carnival rides. The noises they make...*shudder* I hate the squeaks, squawks, groans, grinds, and clangs of protest that the giant metal death traps make. Even the kiddie rides do not impress me with their safety "features". I think they go far too fast and far too high for my children to be on.
HOWEVER. With all of that said. I realize I cannot shelter my children, I cannot ruin their child hood and tell them no they cannot have fun and try and do new and fun things. So I swallow my anxiety and let them partake in the fun. Thankfully they have a good way of loosening me up and having fun too. Which is how I ended up riding the rides with them (I wouldn't survive long at Disney World I fear!!)
So carnival we did!! We rode rides, we had funnel cakes and snow cones and lemonade, we had hot dogs and chips, and we played games (and the kids won some stuffed animals and I found out my daughter is as awesome with darts as I am, woo hoo!! While her brothers...play darts like their father...and you need to wear protective gear around them when they play!!) We rode the ferris wheels and I haven't been on one of those in AGES. It was fun ;) And I got some great shots with my camera! We arrived at the carnival about a half our after it opened and we left about 15-20min before it closed, they so enjoyed it and were exhausted when they got home!
The motorcycle ride was SUPER SUPER slow, but the boys liked it because, well it was motorcycles after all!
The fun house is always one of our favorite things. My husband got in on the fun this year, and he almost did a complete face plant coming out of the big spinny tunnel, ha!
Aerial photo of the midway during the carnival. I snapped this shot from the top of the Ferris wheel. I had to distract myself somehow! I am not a huge fan of Ferris wheels but all of the kids wanted to ride and they each rode with one adult. (Good thing we brought my Mother in law! My daughter rode with her, and my husband and I each rode with one of the boys).
Love this shot of my husband and our sons. We don't get too many shots like this! We were waiting for Circus Daughter and the mother in law to get off of the Ferris wheel, so we were taking a few photos while we waited.
Love this shot of me and my boys :) The humidity wasn't being kind to my hair, but who cares, we were having fun.
The kids posing with their game winnings, they love their new stuffed animals (like we needed more of them, ha!)
It is nearly impossible to get these two together in a photo, but I managed it!! No one ever believes me when I say that my daughter looks like her Daddy the most, but she does. Love these two. Love this photo. Plan on framing it for my daughter and husband for Father's day, as well as the one of the boys with their dad.
They were zonked out almost as soon as their heads hit the pillow so I'm thinking it was a fairly successful night! They listened well, had fun, we had some great family fun and togetherness time. The mother in law even came with us and SHE had fun too and we even got HER on some rides too! (She's getting close to fifty and she rode rides!) The kids enjoyed having Grandma along too.
Friday night my husband took me to the movies to see Jurassic World and San Andreas at the Drive In. It was a lot of fun, especially since it was just the two of us. Normally when we go to the drive in we have a car load of kids with us, soooo I'm glad it was just the two of us for a change. The movies we watched were awesome, I highly recommend them.
Choosing the drive in was a bit of a spur of the moment decision we were originally going to just go to the theater, but when we saw what was playing in the drive in, we had second thought about going IN to watch just ONE movie. So we killed some time by going to our favorite Chinese place and picking up an order, and running by the Dollar Store to get some snacks and already popped popcorn for the movies. (Sooo much cheaper than going in and getting from the snack bar at the theater!) Since it's the drive through, you are totally allowed to. People even set up little tail gate parties and BBQ during a movie! A couple summers ago they did seven dollar car load nights and we'd load up a cooler full of drinks, make huge gallon buckets of popcorn for everyone in the family, grab some candy and yummies at the Dollar Store, and we'd order a few pizza's and pick them up on our way to the Drive in. We'd get there three hours early for a great spot, and then let the kids bring out a kick ball or a baseball to play catch or whatever and they'd play with other kids and have a great time while all the other parents that got there early would visit and eat what ever food we all brought with us. Good times! However, our theater doesn't do the seven dollar movie nights anymore apparently which is a bummer it was extremely popular but I know they had their reasons.
The one bad thing about the drive in, is how incredibly LATE you get home. It was nearly two in the morning when we got back! Thankfully my daughter was having a sleep over at a friends, and the boys were at home with Grandma who was babysitting, so everyone was asleep when we got home.
This morning we slept in as long as we could and then got ready to attend the Art on the Block event. It's such a fun event and we've gone nearly every year I think. It's a great way to bring a little art culture to town.
There were live music performances, food carts, a side walk chalk art contest (of which we entered!), the kids got to spray paint a car, they did drip art, they did ink art on tiles, there were face masks to create, they could paint small canvases, and there was clay they could mold into projects. There was also a music station where kids could make music with some really fun things. They had a tie dye station, and an origami art station as well. So much to see and do! The kids had so much fun, and WOW are they filthy now!! Covered in chalk. I think they got more on themselves than on the side walk.
We all five entered the chalk contest. I had made the kids draw out ahead of time on paper what they were going to draw at the contest so they would have a guide to go by. Even my husband got in and went right to work. I had no idea what I was going to draw. NONE. I ended up just drawing an owl. He was cute. He was the first owl drawn, and then after that multiple other owls popped up all over the place, hahaha! We didn't win anything, but it was still fun! (We did get participation ribbons though, so that made the kids really happy).
Circus Son #2 working on his rocket ship for his outer space drawing.
My daughter, Circus Son #1 and Circus Husband all working on their entries.
Circus Son #2 and his outer space rocket ship scene.
He was intently working and concentrating on this.
Husband called his "The Solar System". To me it just looked like a bunch of circles, buuuut who am I to judge his creativity, ha! He worked really hard on it, and it was cool.
Circus Son #1 with his Knight Fighting a Dragon entry. I thought he did a really good job!
Circus Son #1 covered in chalk!
Looking stylish while STILL being covered in chalk. How does she do it?
Happily creating! We are a huge art loving family, all mediums of art we love!
Brushing up on their future graffiti skills?? This is one of their favorite things to do at the Art on the Block because they KNOW that you don't normally go around spray painting cars and stuff so getting to do this, is a really fun thing and exciting thing for them.
Doing drip art tiles. We are allowed to bring them home, and once they dry I fix them to hang up on the wall as wall art. I love it, and so do the kids.
Working at the clay station. She made an Easter basket complete with eggs (that's an egg in her hand) Last year they were able to watch a gentleman at a pottery wheel create many cool things. They were hoping he'd be out there again this year, but he wasn't there.
Circus Son #1 at the clay station.
The boys at the music station! Making music with PVC Pipe and FLIP FLOPS, it was really cool!
Circus Son #1 making music with glasses of water and pencils, he thought that was really fun.
Stamp time! They did hand and foot prints, but unfortunately we forgot to go back and get them when we left, bummer. I always like to add those to their baby books.
We had to leave because my husband had to get to work, but we grabbed some masks from the mask station to finish later at home. As my husband was loading our stuff into the van I snapped this quick photo of them posing with their masks. I love Circus Son #1's "TOUGH GUY" pose.
The mess is the biggest part of the fun!! The messier you get, the more fun you've had. We were all so covered in chalk yesterday, and after we dropped the husband off at work, we still had things to do so they just skipped around covered in chalk all day, they weren't the only ones many other kids were walking around town like that too and everyone automatically knew where they had been. Art on the Block. I love summer because we start our days all shiny and clean, and by the end of the day? We're a disaster! That just means we've had a big adventurous day.
We grabbed a bite of lunch, got the boys a new hair cut and wandered around the carnival again for a little bit (no rides or anything, just wandering and checking out booths, and the live performances). HOWEVER, it started raining and we got all wet on the way back to the van. I am not opposed to a little time spent playing in the rain and jumping in puddles, especially when there is no lighting, and it's just rain. So we took our time walking to the van so we could jump in puddles together and just play in the rain.
Now that we are home though it is starting to thunder. *sigh* Lovely weather keeps on rolling through here. Can't seem to get through the rain.
I really need to find motivation to go do something. Like make supper, or something. I mean, yeh sure the kids just had popcorn but they need something a little more...nutritional! Ha!
Since today was so busy, I think tomorrow is going to be a rest day for my family!
Mom Circus
