Saturday night, we had a Fall Festival at our neighborhood clubhouse. They had bounce houses, corn hole, football/baseball throwing, face painting, an outdoor movie, and even a duck shooting game (the kind they use at the MWRA gun permit classes)! It was put on by our HOA. A few months ago, me and Paul had a discussion and I told him that he needed to get more involved down here. We have hung out with our neighbors a few times and of course my sister, and I have bunko once a month, but Paul really hasn't stepped out. So, he went to an HOA meeting and came home as a HOA Board member! He also volunteered us to help with the Fall Festival, which means he will help and I will chase our son around for a few hours! =) But it urned out to be a great time until a kid that lives down the street from us (Charlie) decided to ride his Lightning McQueen car down to the party. And Kaleb HAD to ride it. First, he rode with Charlie, and then took it over completely. When his friend Brooks got there, they both rode it till the batteries went dead (at which point he LOST HIS MIND!). We ended up leaving a little early but our neighbors came over and the kids played while we watched the UT vs Georgia game that we had DVR'd. It was a really fun, and really exhausting night! I took a video of Kaleb and Brooks in the car! (It's really supposed to be a one-person car!)
Sunday we decided to get up and go to the Mississippi State Fair in downtown Jackson. It is a lot like the MidSouth Fair but not quite as big. Every year, Paul and I go to the fair for the food, but this year, we knew Kaleb would be big enough to ride some of the kiddie rides. My sister and her husband met us there at 10, when the gates opened, but the rides didn't start till 12! So we just walked around and tried to kill time, going into the FFA Livestock barn and watching some motorcycle/tightrope walking circus. It was actually kind of nice because no one was there yet and you could just look at things. Of course Kaleb wanted to ride every single golf cart/rhino that he saw (which resulted in a few meltdowns when we said no). Another reason I wanted to take Kaleb this year was the pony rides. He loves horses and I just knew he would want to ride one. Um... nope! He was scared to death and clung to me for dear life when I even tried to get him to pet it! But then, thank goodness, a kid half his age came in and started to ride. Monkey see, monkey do I guess because Kaleb couldn't get on there fast enough! He was so cute! After that, we went down to the petting zoo. I'm not sure who likes them more, Kaleb or me. They had a huge variety of animals including goats, llamas, scottish cows, mini donkeys, a camel, a zebra, a tortise and some kind of antelope. The camel was by far Kaleb's favorite! We let him feed them carrots and every time the camel would turn to get another kid's carrot, Kaleb would yell "Hey CAMEL! Here!" It was so cute! By the time we were done there, the rides had started. First, I rode with him on a Bumblebee Ride that goes up and down while going in circles. It was pretty fun. The next one was a tug boat the we thought just swung back and forth. Paul rode that one with him. When it started, not only did it swing back and forth, it spun in circles (see the video). I could barely catch his face as he went by but Paul said he was yelling "Weeeee!". So I got on there for a second ride and it was really fun. The next thing was a motocycle ride that he had to get on by himself. After strapping him in, we were shocked to see how fast it actually went, but he loved it. He also rode an airplane ride by himself that was alot like the bumblebee ride (see the video), and of course the carousel. The only ride he did not enjoy (or us either), was the Nascar ride. It was another one that we couldn't ride with him, so Paul strapped him in and he looked excited. The cars went on a oval track, like a real nascar track, not too fast, but when it came time to round the corner, it SLUNG him so hard he hit the side of the car and didn't move! He didn't cry, but he looked scared to death. We were about to tell the guy to stop the ride but luckily, the ride only lasted about a minute and a half. I think if he had been able to hold on to the bar in front of him or if someone had been in there with him, he would have actually enjoyed it. We will have to remember that for next year! So, all in all, it was VERY fun and I was so proud of him for being a big boy. We can't wait to go back next year!
Oh, and all I ate was a pronto pup, one deep fried oreo, fresh lemonade, and another pronto pup on the way out! I can't believe I missed out on the saratoga chips this year but the pronto pup called my name!
Here are some pictures and video. My camera kept messing up on me so I wasn't able to take pictures of everything but I'm happy with the variety I did get.
This was the motorcycle ride that we thought was so fast. He loved it though. After looking at the video, I don't think it goes any faster than his tractor he has at the house!
This is the tugboat ride that he LOVED! Him and Paul are in the last row. You can see Paul in his green shirt and hat pass by but it's hard to see Kaleb.
He loved the airplanes. The guy that was controlling it let them go for like 5 minutes. It was just him and one other girl and no one was waiting in line, so he just held the button and let them ride!
