Here are a few pics of Sammy enjoying the midway rides at Andrew Haydon Park's Canada Day party. In the first, he's giggling on the upswing of the ferris wheel, as relaxed as if he was enjoying a mere piggy-back ride. In the second, he's offering a frozen smile of fear as his carousel horse giddy-ups its 4 inches of post before plunging recklessly back towards the earth. The twin sides of Sam make fair going an interesting prospect.
Sam has never cared to venture to the second level of the McDonald's Play Place climbing structure: he finds plenty to do on the ground level. At Cosmic Adventures, he sticks close to the ball pools and gentle grade slides, ignoring the sky-high tubing and twirly slides. So when he spotted the ferris wheel from the parking lot (3 or 4 miles away ;-) we figured his interest would evaporate when he got a closer look. When it didn't, I had my money on him ducking out of the line-up as soon as we got to the stairway. That's what Carter did. Suddenly remembered that his mom had told him he wasn't big enough for ferris wheels. I didn't blame him. I was getting a little nervous myself.
But Sam was steadfast. Asked once or twice (or 6 times) if this ride went upside down. Then he handed over his tickets and plunked into his seat. I crossed my fingers that we wouldn't be halted at the top to let on more riders. So, of course, that's exactly what happened. Sam asked if the wheel was breaking. I tried very hard not to look closely at the rusty bolts as I assured him otherwise and braced for his freak out. But he took the "up in the sky" opportunity to check out the full midway and choose other rides to go on. Surprising. When we lurched over the apex Sam gleefully declared, "I'm CRAZY FROOOOOOGGG!!" (thinking of how that character zooms off the end of buildings on his invisible flying motorcycle.)
It was a blast. He narrated the whole ride in his goofy way, once proclaiming at the height of the wheel, "I have a monster under my bed!!" - a nod to the book-on-tape we were listening to on the short drive in. The kids in front of us turned around to laugh. He was the happiest boy on the wheel. Sam, of all kids.
Emboldened by his ferris wheel experience, Sam then decided to take on the Tilt-o-Whirl with Daddy and Carter. They loved it. Until the ride started. Three minutes later, I begged the operator to let Sam off. While Carter and Jeremy looked merely ill, Sammy was terrified. Too scared to cry, his face was a mask of "this railing is going to break and I'm going to be flung to my death" fear. Was awful, but he recovered quickly. Carter proclaimed a number of times, "That was a mistake. We're never going to do that again." He repeatedly verified the name of the ride, committing it to memory on the "Forget It" list. The rest of the morning was pleasant, tho. They went nuts in the jumpy castle; rode motor boats, and spinning strawberries and motorcycles and carousel horses; fed some sheep and goats at the petting zoo; got a maple leaf tattoo; and decided on candy floss as their treat.
When we were down to the last of the tickets, we lined up at the ferris wheel again. Sam's request. He enjoyed a rare opportunity to try talking Carter into attempting something: the shoe is not usually on that foot. Brave as he tried to be, Carter began trembling and chewing nervously on his shirt sleeves as we neared the front of the line. Jeremy gave him the bumper car out and the two of them ducked away.
So Sam and I finished the Canada Day fair the way we started it. With giggles and silly talk and sightseeing together on the ferris wheel. The ferris wheel.
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