Friday Family Fun

I had noticed yesterday that there was a little carnival in town and this weekend it was ending. Texas weather has been fluctuating so much this month, but we had perfect weather on Friday to spend time outside at the Carnival. I thought it would be such a fun thing for the kids (but not sure) and a great way to do something together as a family.

It was 4:00 when Hudson woke up from his nap, so that's when we loaded up. We had to run a few quick errands and then went to eat dinner at Cheddar's at 5:30 so the kids wouldn't be hungry at the carnival. Abby and her boyfriend, Dakota, met us there and joined us for dinner. Cheddar's is usually the restaurant with good and fast service, but not tonight. Our waiter was super slow (literally took 15 minutes for him to bring us our waters). So it was 7:00 before we got out of there and bedtime is usually at 8:00. Not knowing how much the kids would be able to do or even enjoy at the carnival, I figured 30 minutes or so would be plenty of time there.

I have never been so wrong in my life. 

When we pulled up and the kids got a glimpse of it all, the squeals of excitement should have been my first clue that this was going to be a big hit!

We bought our tickets and found a ride that we thought Savannah and Hudson would like. It was a "mini" roller coaster that I planned to sit on with Hudson to make sure he stayed put (since he tends to climb out of things if he doesn't want to be there) and to make sure Savannah wasn't afraid. But the ride operator informed me that I wasn't allowed to ride with them. Caleb and I were both unsure of letting them ride without out (especially Hudson), so I told the man that I was afraid Hudson would try to climb out if he got scared. So the operator asked me how much I weighed (which is approx 103lbs) and told me it would be okay for me to ride with them.

Hudson and I sat a few seats behind Savannah. We buckled in and were on our way! Hudson was screaming with excitement and from what I could see of Savannah, she was loving it, too! I was cracking up at the fact that I was on this ride and from the looks I was seeing on Savannah and Hudson's face. A little bit of shock and possible fear, mixed with smiles and delight. {Note: Sorry so many of these pictures are blurry. My photographer (aka, husband) had problems getting the settings right.}

When the ride stopped, it was clear they enjoyed it because they both wanted to ride it again. I promised them we would before we left, but went ahead to see what other rides they might like. 

Aunt Abby and Dakota came with us to the carnival, too!

I rode the farris wheel with them and it was awesome getting a bird's eye view of the carnival. That's also how Savannah spotted a big slide that she then begged to go on. We had to buy more tickets at this point and then went over to the big slide.

This ride was nothing more than an extra long slide that you road done by sitting on burlap sacks. Not a ride the kids could go on alone, so Caleb took Hudson while I took Savannah. This slide had us going down so fast, that we "caught air" on the last hump.

 

We were all laughing so hard by the time we got to the end and Savannah was dying to go again. So we did. Again and again and again. 

 The time passed so quickly and it was way past bedtime, so we let the kids ride the mini roller coaster one last time before we went home. This time, they rode together (since I wasn't worried they would be afraid or try to jump out) and I got to just watch.

Savannah gave the operator a "thumbs-up" that she was ready to go!

They were so sad to leave, Savannah even cried, but the memories we made tonight will last a lifetime!