Orange Carnival

Last night we went to the Orange Volunteer Firefighters Carnival with Haila, her mom Lisa, Eric, and Cav. We went to this carnival last year too, when Scarlett was just about three months old. I tell ya folks, the end of this summer has pretty much just been a repeat of the end of last summer when Scarlett was finally old enough to go on some fun outings. It's been almost surreal to go to the same places and events with her now that we went to then - and I'm sad to realize that this is just the beginning of her growing up. I'm sure 10 years from now when we're still going to the Orange Volunteer Firefighters Carnival it will be even more strange...or maybe I'll be numb to it by then...but probably not.

Haila turns into such a little mom when she's around Scarlett. She's so curious about what words Scarlett can say and what foods she can eat. (Try explaining why a 14 month old can't eat Cotton Candy.) After eating some ice cream out of a baseball hat bowl (remember those?) Haila wanted to know "what baseball Scarlett liked" - which broke down to whether or not she was a Mets fan. Here's Haila helping Scarlett model some Mets-ness.

I didn't have the heart to tell Haila that Scarlett will most likely wind up a Yankees fan, just like her father...or maybe a Blue Jays fan? (Represent!!)

Haila played a Rubber Ducks game and even shared one of her turns with Scarlett by letting her pick out her own duck. This took much longer than everyone anticipated...but was really cute.

Initially, Scarlett wouldn't pick any of them up...she just kind of let her hands drag in the water to touch the ducks as they went by.

She finally grabbed one, and was a little pissed that I took it right out of her hands to put on the counter. After taking a whole minute to pick it out I can't blame her for wanting to hold onto it for a bit!

Then we met Sparky the firedog. I didn't know what would happen at first (you can never tell if kids are going to love or hate these larger than life big-headed furry creatures) Scarlett loved him. Of course she did...this kid has no fear (I am, of course, excluding her random fear of vacuum cleaners. I don't think that should count).

Haila went on some pretty cool rides... But we, for the most part, just watched her. That is, except for the giant slide that Scarlett went on with both Haila and Lisa. (They raced - how cute?) I figured, hey, she likes slides at the playground so she should like this. I was right. Here is Lisa lugging my giant 23 lb monstrosity of a child up the never ending staircase...if it seems like she's fairly close that's only because my camera was zoomed in to the max.And here's video of them going down.

As you can see, it happened really fast. I think by the time Scarlett realized what was happening it was over. She actually really liked it (as I'm sure you've learned by now, don't let her expression fool you!). I wish I continued to film for longer than I did, because the second they got up Scarlett turned around and ran back towards the slide as if she wanted to go again.

Yay carnival! We'll see you next year!