Canada Day Fair

This afternoon, we headed to our local park where some Canada Day festivities are being held all day today. Calli and I had watched some of the celebrations in Ottawa on tv this morning and Adam and I explained to her that there might be face painting and some fun stuff to do or see. We weren't even sure what was going to be there when we arrived. As we pulled into the parking lot, we all caught sight of the extravaganza at the same time. Calli nearly ejected herself out of her car seat and through the roof with her excitement!! There in front of her eyes was a real fair with real rides!!! She was talking non-stop and at about 1 million words a minute explaining that she'd always wanted to go on rides...blah blah blah...



We bought a few tickets and walked around to see which ride she wanted to try first. Of course, she picked the horse carousel right away and typically insisted on riding the pink horse. Unfortunately, another Dad and his kids budged in front of Adam at the front of the line and the 2 pink horses became occupied before Calli even had a chance to see what was going on. Miraculously she was very good and didn't have a snit about riding a different coloured horse, which I must say was surprising to me with the way her attitude has been these days...especially when she doesn't get to do what SHE wants to do.



Next, she chose a cute kids ride where she sat in an airplane...a pink one, which took her around in circles. Her face was priceless on this ride. She would smile and wave at us as her plane passed by, but when she thought we couldn't see her, she would get all apprehensive and worried. It wasn't because she couldn't see us, but because she wasn't too sure about the way the ride operator was making the plane hit turbulence every so often!! Then another little rider got really freaked out by the "turbulence" and started screaming and crying and Calli responded by looking at him with disgust. It was so funny. Like she'd been on the ride a million times and was totally comfortable and then some BABY has the nerve to cry on this little ride??? Hilarious.



Next, she chose the inflatable bouncing castle type contraption. She was the only one in there for the majority of her turn and took full advantage of the space! She was joined eventually by another little girl and proceeded to try and play tag with her. While Calli was jumping, Adam observed a muscular man taking a turn at the game where you have to heave a huge hammer over your shoulder and take a whack at the plate...triggering a bell to go if the sensor reaches the top...know what I mean? No? Then luckily I've included a picture to get my point across.



Adam figured this muscle guy was pretty tough and decided he'd better not try it and end up embarassing himself. But as the minutes went on, his curiosity got the best of him and he was determined to give it a go. He ended up doing better than the muscle man and won a lovely inflatable Dora hammer for Calli. She thought she'd won the jackpot when the man handed the prize to her!!



Marin observed from the snuggly carrier and pointed out the screaming people on the rides!! Very amusing! So it was a fun afternoon, but another reminder that our little girl is growing up! She went on her first fair ride all by herself and was very brave about it! I'm sure she'll have many more rides in the future, but this one will stand out for me.