A Fair is a Veritable Smorgasbord

Well, actually, it was technically a carnival, but I couldn't resist using the quote. Yes, that's right folks, there was a spring carnival in our neighborhood this weekend. And it was awesome. There were pony rides, a petting zoo, a train ride, snow cones, face painting, a magic show, and games. We didn't get to most of the stuff, because the boys were fixated on certain elements. Like the balloons. I helped our neighbor carry over a ton of balloons and then handed them out to kids. It was oddly fun. But it took me forever to get the strings untangled and then I was left with about five yellow balloons. I guess yellow is the odd color out.

After unloading my balloons, the boys spotted the train, which was basically a lawn mower with a train built around it The boys were cryin' and wailing as we waited in line to get on. They just couldn't wait! Then we sat down and Sam seemed to start to think better of this whole train thing.

Sam and Zach

Thirty seconds after this picture was taken the engine started and Sam started crying at the top of his lungs. Apparently he just wanted to touch the train, not actually be in it, but we were already moving and the ride was only about 2 minutes, so he just cried the whole time. Sorry to the people around us. But not to the people who complained about the noise from the train because they were still sleeping. It was noon after all.

But enough about balloons and trains, lets get down to the brass tacks: the Fire Truck. That's right folks, there was a full blown, true to life, actual fire truck at the carnival. Now, I've mentioned before that the boys are very boyesque in the extreme love of cars, planes, trains, dirt, balls, construction equipment, and guitars (that's a new passion), but the fire truck is the Crème de la Crème of the boyhood universe. And here it was!

Half of Ben, behind that other guy under the red balloon, as Ben attempts to run into the fire truck.

Ben, was so, so, so excited! He kept trying to run right in there, saying "my turn! my turn!" He actually started on the passenger side and decided that that wasn't the way to go, since his ultimate goal was to drive the truck, not just ride in it. So he ran around to the other side, where there was a much longer line and he had to wait. And cry as he waited.

But finally, he got in there. Look at this happy little boy! It was just a dream come true.
Here he is asking for us to close the door, so he can really experience this moment. The extremely nice fireman obliged. (Notice the red eyes, that's from crying).

Ben, living the dream.

Of course, there was a line and eventually Ben had to come out. Or rather, the beautiful, perfect dream was ripped from his loving hands and killed in front of his tearful eyes. It was gut wrenching, really. And Ben cried and cried and cried.

So, while Ben is crying, let's talk about Sam. He was much more entertained by the exterior of the firetruck. Especially the water.

Sam just loves to get wet.

Here Sam is trying to fill his new, fireman's hat with water. I think he must have gotten this idea from another kid, but I was soothing a hysterical Ben at the time, so I'm not quite sure.

Zach managed to coax Sam into the truck, and look how sweet and happy he looks! All day we were asking them if they saw a firetruck and they got all happy and excited and make firetruck noises, which sound a whole lot like screaming banshees, but in a really, really cute way.

Oh, and we managed to score some extra firefighter hats after the truck left. Sweet.