The Carnival

Back in May, we decided to go to Ottawa's Victoria Day Festival. It actually runs from May 13th to the 24th, so it's not really on a single day, but that's neither here nor there. Suffice to say there was a festival in Ottawa sometime in May and we went.

This marked Lucas's first trip to a carnival. We were going to go to the mega-huge Super EX carnival last fall, but for one reason or another, we decided not to. I know I was really looking forward to it since I was excited to see how he would like the rides. Marilu had brought him on a couple kiddie rides when they went to Marineland/Niagara Falls earlier this year, but this would be my first experience with him. So lots of firsts for everyone!

The first attraction he wanted to go on was a multi-level fun house type thing. Of course, he decides Dad has to go with him, which wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't have an abject fear of heights. From three stories up, this thing looked and felt about as stable as you expect most midway rides and attractions to be, so my heart was hammering in my chest when I crossed the rope bridge. Lucas had a blast though so I guess that is all that matters. You can't see Lucas that well in the first picture below, but I wanted to give you an idea what the overall contraption looked like.


This was my favorite part. Taking the slide down and getting the hell off that deathtrap. For what it's worth, I think Marilu did a fantastic job taking these two pictures.



I think Lucas has been on a merry-go-round at some point in the past, but I can't for the life of me think of where. Maybe the pier in Santa Monica? I don't know. As a result, here's a picture of him on the carousel at the carnival, and we can all pretend it's his first time on one.


The one ride I did put my foot down as a "no way in hell" was the Ferris wheel. I'm sure they are as safe as can be, but I'll let others chance the odds, thank you very much. Here, we see Lucas and Marilu getting buckled in by the operator, no doubt an ex-biker gang member with a meth addiction who works the Ferris wheel in between week-long blackouts.


I'm pretty sure Lucas ended up in this pink dune buggy since it was one of the only cars remaining when he got on the ride. I don't believe it was an enthusiastic choice. Not that there's anything wrong with that.


More vehicle riding by the kid.


Self-portrait by the artists.