Carnivals and other Firsts

Our town is having a carnival this weekend called "Sunfish Days." (We're the Sunfish capitol of the world, you know!) We had been planning a trip to Mpls. this weekend for a family get-together, but John has been having some muscle pain/knots in his back, neck and shoulders for the last few days, and this morning he could hardly turn his head. So, instead of our roadtrip, we headed off to the fairgrounds.

Ok, can you say, BLAST!??? Today was one of those days where when I'm 80, I'll think back on this day with a few tears in my eyes. I even had 'em today!

The first ride was the Octopus, which John and Adam went on together. I stood there watching "my boys" completely blubbering! They both had the biggest smiles on their faces, and I was beside myself with happiness. They were so happy; I was so happy. The girls were clueless, but enjoyed watching the sites and listening to the sounds.

Next, the girls had their turn on the merry-go-round. I wondered if Aleksa would freak out, but she smiled and giggled - all the while white-knuckling the pole. That's ok. She did great. Liana showed off by going "no-handed" which didn't surprise me, but it really showed how different the girls are from each other. Major personality opposites. Again, more tears. I can't believe I have little kids to take to the fair!!!!!!! And they are at the PERFECT ages to take. Adam likes the wilder rides, and then Leks likes the little girl ones. Liana is ready for anything in between. Any and all. Doesn't matter. She's there. Just hand her her tickets already and be fast about it!

Ok, next the older two plus Papa did the bumper cars. Leks got bored watching that... she was ready to find her "swings" ride. She LOVES swings, and when she saw that one, she was all set. Surprised me that she'd be gun-ho about ANY of the rides, but she was practically pulling the bottom hem off my jacket trying to pull me away from watching the bumper cars to go by her swings. Liana wasn't tall enough to do her car by herself, so John did it with her. I think bumper cars are boring, but they loved them, and Adam asked to go a second time later on in the day.

Leksa's swings went along without a hitch, and she giggled, waved, screamed, and was pretty much the loudest little girl on the whole ride. It surprised me that my "tame" one in the family was so rambunctious all of a sudden. Everyone else on the entire ride was silently smiling to their Mama's. More tears. I hoped none of the kids noticed. Good thing for so much to distract them with. I had my few moments of undisturbed bawling-my-head-off to myself. Leksa is growing up. But yet, she's still my baby. She's sure come a long way this year. Amazing. So thrilled to be standing at the fair watching MY little kids on their rides. Can't believe I can be this happy!

Next Liana and Papa went on the Ferris Wheel. No way was I going on that thing. I hate the Ferris Wheel. I used to like it when I was little, but then I grew up and understood what they were doing to me. The last time I went on one, my knees shook, my hands sweat, and I practically cried for my mommy. That was about 7 years ago. That's the end of my Ferris Wheel days. Anyway, John had contemplated putting Liana on by herself, but I had a heart attack, so he went with her. Leksa, Adam and I stood back a bit and watched. Liana was all smiles. In fact, she was the only one on the entire wheel with her hands waving above her head showing off the fact that she didn't need to hold the bar. (Where'd we get her anyway! Doesn't she know how scary the Ferris Wheel is? Doesn't she know that you're supposed to be Freaked Out and scared, and clingy-to-your-papa? What's the deal!!!??) Anyway, she loved it. No tears for me watching that one. I was too freaked out for her. I wagged my finger at her trying to tell her to "put those hands back on the bar" but she didn't hear me, and laughed at my body-language. John was no help either. He told me later that it was HE who told her to do it. Bad Papa. Bad.

Speaking of Papa. Aleksa has been calling him all kinds of things lately. Usually he calls him "Pa" or "Pop," but all three have been calling him "Daddy" and "Dad" lately. The more they play with the neighbor kids, the more they do so. Liana came home with her first naughty word the other day and I really had to fight the urge to ground her for the rest of her life. ;O)

Anyway, back to the carnival. They also had a farm animal petting area. Baby goats, mama goats, a llama, sheep, chickens, a calf, and a goose. They loved those a lot. 'Specially Adam, my animal-lover. He would have taken home every one of those baby animals if we had let him! Oh! He composed a poem for me today after petting the animals... "Llama, llama, we love Mama!" :O) My first poem from my kiddos! :O) *loves being a mom* *contented all-is-well-with-the-world sigh*

One of my all-time favorite rides at the fair is the Tilt-a-Whirl. My dad took me on that one when I was little, and Leksa was the only one game to go on it with me. She loved it. I loved it. So fun to snuggle your little ones on carnival rides. (If John hadn't told Liana to take her hands off the bar on the Ferris Wheel, maybe he'd have gotten a little snuggling too. Too bad for him!) Anyway! ;O) When we were done, 'Leks declared, "Again!" She's getting to be a regular dare-devil these days! For her at least! :O)

After our afternoon running from ride to ride, we did a little shopping and then went to Grandpa's house to mow his lawn. Adam got to really have at it this time, under the watchful eyes of both of us plus Grandpa. Talk about figure 8's and crooked lines! Uff! Good thing that's the very least of Grandpa's worries. He could care less about perfectly-mown lawns. As long as it is short, he doesn't care how it gets there. It was the perfect lawn for his lawn-mowing debut. He was thrilled with the extra $$ Grandpa handed him afterwards. We were all surprised he could manage the mower as well as he did. But, he's growing right before our very eyes. When he first came home he was wearing size 5 1/2 boys' shoes. I just bought him a men's 8 the other day. Unbelievable!

THEN (boy has this been a packed day!), tonight I had Adam clean out Susie's cage. The new kind of cage gets stinky sooner than the glassed-in kind we had before, so we have to clean it out a lot more often. Anyway, for some *strange* reason, Adam forgot to take Susie out of the cage when he started dismantling the cage to clean it. He didn't notice that she was gone for a *long* time. Great. The whole family tore the house apart looking for her.

She got out the other night too, and John found her on the floor in front of the dryer. He told the kids that Susie looked up at him and said, "'Oh, I'm so happy to see you Papa! Save me!'" but then he said that "then she remembered that she was a hamster and started to run away again."

Anyway, this time, she was gone for quite a while, and things were not happy at the Fisher house. I was Not looking forward to going to sleep tonight knowing there was a (*shiver*) rodent loose in the house. Liana finally found her under her bed. Instead of grabbing her though, she started screaming "I found her! I found her!" and ran down the hall to get everyone. I thought for sure Susie would have taken off again, but she stayed put.

So, all the Fishers (Susie included) are now nestled down in their beds, after an adventure-filled day. This has been one of the sweetest, most incredibly fun days of having children that we've had yet. I hope I never forget a minute of it...