Top o' the World, Ma!

 The draw of the county fair this year, for Toe, was the carnival next door. He wanted to do the rides. Two years ago, when we went to the fair, Toe was incredibly excited to ride the small rides - again and again. This year we decided to go ahead and purchase the all-day bracelet for him. It was well worth it. We discovered that Toe was exactly the height required to go on most of the rides by himself (which was a relief to me, as I get nauseous on the merry-go-round!).

It was a real act of independence on his part and I tried to allow him the freedom to make the choices for himself. If he was tall enough for a ride, I let him go. However, I did not suggest that he go on some of the more thrill-seeking rides: the one where centrifugal force pulls you standing against the wall, the one that goes upside down, the where you are raised up and then dropped.. And fortunately, he either did not notice or was not interested yet. It was hard to send him off by himself, but he was so proud, and so ready to do it.

He started with the familiar:

We got there just as the rides were opening, so we had the place pretty much to ourselves. If there was anyone else on a ride, it was usually one other set of kids. I noticed that kids mostly came to the rides in pairs - which makes sense. Many of the rides would be much more fun to go on with someone to help crank the bar to spin faster, or just to ride with. I really was feeling that Toe needed an older sibling....

Meanwhile, I had lots of time to ponder the crazy existence the "carnies" lead. One guy told me that they start in March and are in a different town just about every week between then and the end of September. You could tell they were all pretty tired by our visit (beginning of August). I hope they had some sort of reprieve in that our weather was sunny but only low 70's with a cool breeze. It must be hot in other parts of the state by now.

Pretty soon Toe was ready for something more exotic. He was the right height, but just barely. He didn't really get the full experience when he rode by himself.

Toe loved this one but couldn't reach the center bar to spin the thing.

The Ferris Wheel required that no one go alone. I thought that was very interesting - I wonder if it is to keep people from jumping.... I was happy to ride this one with Toe. It was his first time and when we had to wait at the top while they let off other people, Toe was both thrilled and nervous. It gave me a chance to get some great photos, though.

First time on the Ferris Wheel

The clear favorite was The Octopus. Because they have to balance it by weight, the operator put Toe in a seat with two larger boys. This worked really well - the boys were super nice and Toe had someone with him his first time. The second time he rode it, he was in one by himself and the centrifugal force kept pulling him lower and lower in his seat. This made the operator concerned and he told me that from then on Toe would need to go with someone else. I thanked him. He thanked me for understanding. I was just grateful he was looking out for Toe.

The Octopus. Toe's favorite ride. He got off and went right back on.

It was good that we went for the rides first: I ran into another mother who said her kids spent their entire time at the fair asking when they could go on the rides. We experienced some of that, but mostly Toe was able to enjoy the fair knowing that he had been on the rides and could go back.

We had originally planned on going back the next day to have J and Toe go on the rides together. I would have waited, but Toe could not wait ONE MORE DAY to get to the rides. By the end of the day  it was clear to me that one day was enough. By the end of the day I was pretty beat. Toe was too; we were able to slide out of there just as he was ready to start melting down. The next day we spent resting.