Fourth of July!

Last night we went to the Hebron Fireman's Carnival, in lovely scenic Hebron, MD. I felt like I had walked into a Norman Rockwell painting. Well, except for the too tight short shorts and the huge number of tattoos. Anyway, the girls were vibrating at the thought of going on the the rides. For those of you who know me well, I want to put in here that the carnival rides didn't get started until 7:15 PM, and I decided to throw caution to the wind and let the girls stay up late. I know, I'm a rebel.

We get to the carnival, get the girls their wristbands, and head immediately to the carousel. Cause if Ellie didn't ride the carousel, it may have caused her to have a stroke. Someone please tell me why every single ride started promptly at 7:15, except the ever-lovin' carousel? After a few hairy minutes, a man started the thing up and Ellie and Maggie climbed aboard. I went on to help Maggie onto the horse, and the conductor asked me to please stay with Mags. Not really a problem, but it hadn't been my plan. We start our trip and the girls are loving it. Every time we go around, Maggie is waving and saying "yeehaw!" and generally being cute. Then, disaster... the conductor started the music.

Maggie literally leaps off the horse and into my arms, screaming, "Too Loud!" For the rest of the ride, and let me tell you, the people at the Hebron Carnival want you to get your money's worth so the rides are LONG, Maggie clung to me like a spider monkey. Poor girl!

The ride finally ends and we all get off. Ellie was exhilarated, Maggie crying noisily. In an effort to save the night, I suggest that they try the airplane swings. They appear to be making no noise at all. The girls get on the plane and start swinging. Everything is going great and then.... the clattering roller coaster starts up next door. Maggie begins to scream again, this time with no parent. Just as I was going to ask the operator to stop, Ellie leans over and puts her hands on both of Maggie's ears and pulls her head to her chest. It was hilariously cute! Again, the Hebron carnival people give you a little extra on each ride, so it seemed a long time that this happened.

Believe it or not, after both of these experiences, Maggie wanted to get back on other rides. They did it all, ride upon ride. The only other trauma was when Ellie insisted that she ride the roller coaster by herself. Not a good plan... there was much crying!

All in all, it was one of those rare, golden nights. The kind of night that keeps a parent going through many a tantrum. The kind of night we'll look back on when we're old and looking at our grandkids on rides. A good kind of night!