Today, we kicked off our last long weekend of the summer by going to a local Fair. I have many good childhood memories of the smell of sizzling onions, fried food, cotton candy, and farm animals, coupled with the sights and sounds of everything that makes up a good end of summer Fair. I had high hopes that this experience, a first for my boy, would kick start the first of many such childhood memories of his own.
We were not disappointed, because this long weekend fair delivered childhood memories in abundance.
When we arrived I thought for sure the barn animals would be the greatest hit with Jake, but who knew that deep down in his two and a half year old's soul he was a carnival ride lover.
We bought a book of ride tickets thinking we might get him to give one or two a go - we never could get him to go back to the farm animals.
And this smile never left his face the rest of the day.
Except for maybe when he got his head stuck in this ice cream cone ...
And as far as firsts go, Jake also had his first face painting done today. Again he surprised me by choosing to have a butterfly painted on his generous cheek - and oh how proud he was of that darn butterfly.
But perhaps the all time favorite of the day was the model boat centre, where a wind up paddle boat race captivated my boy the rest of the day. He and his dad didn't end up winning the race but when I asked Jake what his favorite part of the fair was at the end of the day he said "the boats!"
We went back over and over, between rides and sugary snacks he always insisted that we make our way back to the model boat guys to see what new and interesting homemade remote control boats they were putting in the water. He was their biggest fan and they rewarded his constant returns by giving him his very own juice box at the end of the day.
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| Jake took it upon himself to yell "on your mark, get set, go!" when he felt they were taking to long to get the race going. |
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| His first cotton candy - and certainly not his last. |
There is something about summer carnivals that just belong to childhood. Back in my old city, where I was born and raised, we have a huge summer fair that takes place every year at this time. I remember the many years my mom would walk us three kids up to the fair grounds where we would meet up with my dad after his work. We would eat hot dogs, inspect all the farm animals, dare each other onto the scariest rides. We'd come home high on adrenaline and sugar, and smelling of mini doughnuts.
It makes my heart glad to know that I can share that experience with my own child in our new town, and even gladder to know he loves it as much as I do.
