a day of crabs and carnivals.

last weekend, the nephieces came to visit. they were really only here for one full day, but oh what a day it was! we woke up early and spent the morning dollar shopping (yardsailing) with our friend Nadine. the kids each had a dollar to spend, and thanks to some generous sellers the adults managed to fill up our car without spending much more than the kids!

 

after lunch we made crab cakes, because this is maryland after all. but instead of old bay, we spiced them up with frosting and candy. sound gross? not by a long shot. check out these cuties!

 



 

and ok, maybe an alien or two slipped in there too...

 

 original pinspiration here

and then, because our day hadn't been packed full of enough fun already, we headed to the carnival for the evening!  the kids were almost too excited to eat any carnival food, but once they did we were all about the rides.

first stop: roller coaster. hands in the air the whole time. best thing ever.

N was close to tears over not being tall enough to ride the giant slide...

...but he made up for it by driving the big-rigs.

 



the spinning dragons were a hit - its so fun that they are big enough to spin them all by themselves!

 

i have never seen a kid more excited to go fishing. there werent even any worms involved, but both N and C caught a shark and walked away with a fun little prize.

 these cars (dune buggys?) bounced up and down as they went around, and made the absolute best 'sproing!' noise.

 

N was a little ladies man in his jeep. and dont think his car filled up just because all of the other cars were full - there were completely empty cars on this ride. N is just that handsome.

 

 

and can you believe that C is big enough to ride her very own motorcycle?  crazypants.  its kind of impresive the amount of fun that can be had with a limited number of tickets.

 

 

and then, just when we thought our tickets were all gone and it was time to head home, a woman offered us the rest of her family's unused tickets. there were enough for the kids to each do one more ride, so we circled back to the rollercoaster for one last ride!

 

 before heading home, Uncle Mark suggested a detour to the Creamery to round out the night with ice cream. we ate our cones outside on the patio because it was just that perfect of a summer evening.

what a great day. lets do it again soon, mmk?

friday night fun.

if i had to describe last night with just one word, it would be:

CARNIVAL!

apparently the J-ville Lions club puts on a carnival for one week every summer, so we decided to go this year. and we invited friends! 

as soon as we pulled into the parking lot (also known as the field between the hardware store and the car dealership) we were struck by the fact that its kind of funny how these things dont change. there were the same rides, the same music, the same teenage girls dressed in skimpy clothes that have been at carnivals since the days of middle school. and somehow, thats all just part of the charm of the carnival.

the first thing we did was eat some dinner, carnie style: hot dogs, corn dogs, cheeseburgers, fries, soda, and a strawberry smoothie. it really doesn't get much better than that. absolutely scrumptious. the only disappointment was that there was no sign of funnel cakes anywhere. 

we rode some classic carnival rides until we were dizzy and nauseous and couldnt see straight. but luckily none of us had the misfortune of yakking on (or after) a ride.

we did save some tickets for the much calmer, more iconic ferris wheel. because a carnival just wouldnt be the carnival without one. and just to round out the whole experience, we even got spit on while waiting in line!

after all our ride tickets were gone, we got some ice cream for dessert. Mark claims that there is nothing better than a chocolate soft-serve cone, but i prefer mine twist-style, just like i used to get from the Ranger.

we stayed and people-watched until it got dark. i'm a little sad i didnt manage to get a picture of the guy with the live snake around his waist. at first i thought it was just a stuffed prize from one of the games! we're still not sure if he was actually working the carnival, or just a guy who saw a good opportunity for his pet snake to get a little taste of classic Americana.

we spent the rest of the evening in our backyard hanging out around a fire. it was the first fire we've had in the fire bowl that i got Mark for Christmas. and i must say it was a pretty darn good one.

if the past week of 90+ degree days wasn't enough to make us believe that summer is here to stay, it definately feels like it now. and we're really looking forward to lots of perfect summer evenings like this one full of good fun, food, and friends.