We went to the Fair!

Last year, I took Mo to the Circus. It was AWESOME, and I have photos, and need to do a blog about it. This year, I really wanted to take him again. But he's in Kindergarten. He's learning things all day every day, and his afternoons are full of math and math-related things. I can't just pull him out of school willy-nilly, even if it IS the Circus. So the 4:30 show was out. I'd have had to take him out at 2:30 to get there, since it's about an hour and a half ride from his school. But the 7:30 show wouldn't get us home until 11:00. I know because two years ago when I took him to the 7:30 show, we didn't get home until 11:00. That is just not going to work on a school night. I wracked my brain, but came up with no solutions. The Circus just wasn't going to happen unless I dropped all pretense of being a responsible parent. If the Circus would just come on a Friday...but it was only here Wednesday and Thursday this year. I'm sure it didn't miss us. 

I decided that since Mo didn't get to go to the Fair last year, and he's not going to the Circus this year, he was going to go to the Fair this year, no matter what. My husband was not so certain. "You want him to go to the Fair to ride the rides...by himself?" Josh thought that would be absolutely no fun, and therefore a waste of money. I agreed, but all the people that I usually ask have older kids, and now they're very busy with after school stuff and sports, etc. That's why Mo didn't get to go last year. I was so disappointed. I really wanted Mo to have fun, but I did agree that riding the rides by yourself, even if you're finally big enough, wouldn't be a blast. Then Josh hit upon a solution and it was perfect! If I could only work it out. See if Mo's little friend, Gabe, from Pre-K last year, whom Mo refers to as "his dude", was available to go. Fingers crossed, I texted Gabe's Mama. Well, I had to uncross my fingers to actually text her. I was so afraid it wouldn't work out...it took a few minutes before she responded (I mean, isn't that crazy? Everyone should be at my beck and call at all times!), and I was on pins and needles hoping Gabe could come. Finally, she texted back. Yes, she could meet us there. Woo hoo!!! All was right in my world again. Josh and I decided not to mention it to Mo, in case something fell through at the last minute. While it's true that kids do have to learn to deal with disappointment, I didn't want to have to impart that lesson just now. There will be plenty of opportunities later, I'm sure.

We met at the entrance, and Mo was extremely surprised and pleased when Gabe came running up to him. They hugged like family. It was super cute. Josh, designated food purchaser and money holder, went off in search of food while we got the kids stamped with the "all you can ride" stamp, and started the festivities. Gabe's Mom, Codi, and I chatted and supervised and took photos. I didn't take any photos of all the people taking photos, but I was tempted. It's hilarious--a line of parents against the fence, taking photos as their kid comes around. I was one, don't get me wrong. But it is this funny phenomenon. Here are the best of the pics of the night. Gabe and Mo are about the same size, and they both wore blue shirts, so if you don't know which kid is mine, look for the Superman logo.

Merry Go 'Round...Start on the tamest ride and work your way up...

This is the first Merry Go 'Round that I didn't get on with Mo. He's getting very independent. Plus, it's not cool in front of the "dude," I guess. 

Mega Slide

That slide was pretty tall. I thought the boys might be a little intimidated, even with Gabe's big brother (not in this photo) with them. But they showed no fear at all!

Mo drove the train and Gabe navigated...well, not really. But that's what it looks like!

Pilot and Co-pilot.

Every time the planes came around, Gabe put his hands up. These were the cool ones, where they go around in a circle AND up and down. And the big thing in the middle lifted up and tilted, so they're at an angle, too.

Glass House

Ok, let me just admit right now that I'm one of "those" parents. You know, the ones who let their kids go in the glass house without an adult, just to laugh when they bump into the glass. Josh is, too. Josh was very disappointed when the boys went through the first time without bumping into anything at all. "It's not fair, they're cheating. They're following other people through the maze." I didn't really see that as cheating. Rather smart, actually. Then we let them go again. And again. Several times, in fact. I would have thought, as smart as they were in the beginning, that they would know the route, but no. Gabe bumped into a glass wall so hard he fell down and got a goose egg on his noggin. I felt VERY guilty at that point, and tried to get Mo to go back in and get him. That didn't work. Pretty soon they were both turned around and bumped into glass more times. Josh was just picking himself up off the ground from laughing when Codi came up (she had taken Billy to ride some "less kiddie" rides). When I told her what happened, since I had to explain the goose egg, she asked me if I got it on video. Alas, I didn't. But it was funny. I still feel guilty about HOW funny. 

Dragon Roller Coaster

This is probably the fastest of the kiddie rides. I couldn't take a decent photo of just Gabe and Mo. But I did see the look on their faces as they went around every time. Gabe laughing, hands up in the air, loving the wind and the quick drops and turns. Mo, holding on for dear life, grimacing. Hmm. I just knew he hated it. I was very surprised when he asked to go again.

Climb up, Slide down...repeat

They went on this one again and again. Billy did, too. It's fun. At one point Mo lost his shoe, and had to climb down a bit to get it. When he came back up, Gabe was at the top, hand extended to help Mo up. I wish I had gotten that shot. It was very sweet.

Boats!

Mo must have asked to ride this one about a hundred times before we finally got to it. I don't know why it held such appeal for him. He rode about 20 other rides that looked more fun to me. But he couldn't wait. What cracked me up was, the whole time, Gabe was playing around with the outboard motor. So funny! And Mo looked like he was fishing. Those boys clearly need to be out on the lake!

They rode a bunch of rides that I didn't photograph. The one that had my heart in my throat was the spinning one...like the tea cup ride at Disney. Get in the...barrel...in this case, instead of a tea cup, and see how fast you can spin it in circles, then the whole ride goes in circles, too. Codi and I discussed it, before agreeing to let the boys ride it. Billy didn't want to, so just Gabe and Mo. Ok, we figured they wouldn't be able to spin it too fast, since they're not that big. We didn't anticipate the carney putting a bigger kid, with more spin power, with them. They nearly spun out of orbit! I just knew they were going to upchuck. That's why my heart was in my throat. It was going to be epically bad, and I could tell Mo was going to do it...it was just a matter of time...oh thank goodness, the ride stopped. They looked like drunkards stumbling off of it...they BOTH asked to ride again and Codi and I emphatically said NO!!!! Not risking it. 

They also got to visit the petting zoo and we walked and walked. After three hours, we were all done. Well, I don't think Mo and Gabe were done. But Josh, Codi and I were SO done! But I'm so glad we did it. Mo loved it, and Codi texted me the next day that Gabe did, too. Mission accomplished.

Visiting Currahee and the WMA

A couple of weeks ago, Josh went scouting hunting sites with a buddy. They decided to check out the Wildlife Management Area in Toccoa, GA, which is right next to Currahee. Yes, the same Currahee from the "Band of Brothers" series. It's about 30-40 minutes from my house. 

While he was there, he ran across a waterfall and sent me the photo. I promptly insisted that he take us there, since Mo is a huge waterfall fan. (Really, who isn't? But Mo definitely digs 'em, and since it's outside time, why not indulge him?)

It turns out that Josh also ran across a couple of really old graves, and since his Aunt Dianne is very interested in ancestry and genealogy and history, he decided to make a big afternoon getaway for all of us. He invited his mom, too, because he's a good son and she likes family togetherness. We went yesterday.

We decided to check out the top of Currahee first, and it's true that you can run three miles up and three miles down, should you so desire. We even saw someone doing just that. However, we drove to the top in the four wheel drive, thank you very much. The view was great!

After enjoying Currahee for a while, we headed back down and over to the WMA. There are about a hundred dirt roads through there, and luckily Josh had marked his GPS when he was there before, because he was able to navigate the labyrinth fairly easily. We parked at a place that was marked by an historical marker. It explained about the old home place that was there over 100 years ago and it talked about the graves. We had to hike to the creek to see the waterfall, which was on the way.

Right next to the creek, Mo spotted this lovely broken butterfly. I did feel very sorry for it. But the colors are just gorgeous! I had to take the photo. That was the first of hundreds of butterflies we saw. All the others were too quick to move for pictures.

Ah. Here's the waterfall! It was a very humid day, but the view...totally worth the sweat! Of course, it was nice and cool at the waterfall.

Mo couldn't resist the siren call of the creek. Every child of every generation must thrill at the sight and wonder of a creek, no matter how cold. We let him wade in it on the way back.

Josh headed to the top. As soon as Mo saw Daddy up there, he had to go up, too.

Must be a guy thing. I only went up to help Mo up the steep parts. And for the photo, of course.

Then we found this: 

Cute little cave-like thing, isn't it? I should have taken a photo with a person in it, for perspective. It's not big at all. A hen-sized entrance, maybe. Anyone know what it is? Yes, it IS the fireplace for a moonshine still! No, I didn't know that all by myself. Josh told me. You build the fire under the rocks and the still sits on top. Water is piped over from the nearby creek. Mountain history, right there.

Here is the tiny graveyard. I think it's the people who had the home place originally.

If you look very carefully, you can see the date reads 1874. Wow. 

Since a five-year-old can only handle "ancient" history for a limited time, we headed back to the creek for play. I let him take off the boots and socks and really have a good time!

We saw this flower. No one in our party knows what it is. Any thoughts?

Final stop of the day. Another historical grave yard. Short break, then back home. All in all, a great afternoon!