We started our weekend Friday night by driving up to Belle Fourche (a town about 15 minutes away) to grill out with some new friends that Josh is doing a leadership/Bible study with. After we filled our tummies with brats (don't tell him I told you, but Josh ate 5 brats - in 1 sitting!) and LOTS of watermelon, we walked downtown to the local carnival that was going on for the weekend. Kind of like the circus that I blogged about a couple of months ago, it amazes me how after almost 30 years, a carnival is exactly the way that I remember it when I was a kid. The same rides (is it just me or do they look like they are going to fall apart at the precise time you get on them?!?!), the same games, the same prizes (enormous stuffed animals that I would spend hours trying to win), the same food (while at the top of the Ferris Wheel I gazed over the food stands and listed off everything I would eat if I wouldn't get fat from it. My list included, but was not limited to . . . a funnel cake, a big pickle on a stick, cheese fries, a snow cone, mini doughnuts, cotton candy and a corn dog . . . sounds good doesn't it?!?!) and a gazillion kids running around with what seemed like one set of parents to each 50 children. Oh and the germs, can't forget the germs! Am I the only one that doesn't remember being worried about germs when I was a kid? If I remember correctly I used to ride all the rides, use the port-a-potty (of course not washing my hands because there is no water and I don't think hand sanitizer was invented 28 years ago) and then sticking my hand in a bag of cotton candy that was shared with my two sisters and handful of cousins. Oh well, I survived and am normal (I think?)!
After being at the carnival for 3 hours we were reminded how lucky we are to have such an angel for a son! Man some of those kids are naughty, whiny, spoiled little brats! Oops, did I say brats?!?! Anyway, Cayel was perfect! He waited in the lines patiently and contained his excitement only to include a random smile while quietly saying, "I so essscited!" He would politely wait for his turn to get on each ride while sheepishly handing his tickets to the game operator (yes they look the same as they did when I was younger) and even said thank you when the ride was over. He was so cute and he got to experience his first Ferris Wheel and his first kids Roller Coaster (although he cried through the entire Roller Coaster ride).
Later that night we nestled up under a blanket and watched our first set of fireworks of the weekend! They were beautiful!
Being Friday was a late night for Cayel, we spent most of Saturday relaxing around the house and took a very long afternoon nap! Once we were all rested, we headed up into the hills. We parked our vehicle at a PRIME spot for fireworks later that evening (in Lead they light off the fireworks over the Open Cut - an old gold mine), got Cayel all situated in the hiking pack and on our way we went. We stopped at a neat restaurant for dinner, took Cayel to the park and finally made our way back up to our vehicle to await the firework show. Just as it was the night before, they were beautiful but my were they LOUD . . . every boom echoed in the deep pit below!
A great ending to a great weekend filled with lots of family time, lots of firsts and lots of memories!
