After our great experience last year at Kernersville's Spring Folly, Luke and I made sure to put it on our list of things to do this May. Spring Folly 2012 was a fun one just like last year!
When we arrived at the festival, we headed straight to the carnival rides so that we could beat the crowds and the lines. (We are always early birds at things like this. We arrived at the carnival when it opened and because of that we did not wait in line at all.)
The first ride that Luke wanted to ride was the flying cars. He couldn't ride these last year because he was so little so being able to ride these cars this year was super exciting for him. He chose to ride in the blue police car the first time. During the ride, he smiled the whole time and, of course, used the steering wheel to "drive."
After the cars, he and I rode the big twirly strawberries together. Luke laughed and laughed as we spun around. I started singing, "Around and around we go..." and he grinned at me and finished the song by saying, "where we stop, nobody knows." I have no idea where that came from or how he knew to say that but it was funny!
For the third ride, Luke rode the train. In the past, this ride has been his favorite. But, this year, he enjoyed it but he only wanted to ride it one time. For that one time, he wanted to sit up front and drive. He had the cutest little girl sitting with him that also wanted to sit up front and drive. Ironically, after they were both strapped in, neither one of them ever touched the steering wheel.
Most of these rides required Luke to ride with another kid. I was so proud of the way that Luke introduced himself to each kid. When someone got on the ride with him, he would say, "My name is Luke. What
is your name?" To my disappointment, most of the other kids didn't know how or didn't want to respond.
is your name?" To my disappointment, most of the other kids didn't know how or didn't want to respond.
While Luke was riding the train, we saw Silas and Heather walk up. We decided to wait for Silas to ride the train so the boys could ride something together. While Silas' rode, Luke just watched him and waved through the fence.
After Silas' train ride, we headed back to the cars and Luke and Silas rode together. They were super cute!
Silas and Heather wanted to ride the carousel so we headed that way, but Luke saw the motorcycles and wanted to ride them. I didn't know if he was big enough to ride them, but after watching several kids smaller than Luke get on them, I let him try it. He loved it! It was a pretty fast ride and the motorcycles lifted up and down. Luke would watch as his motorcycle went up in the air. I think this ride ended up being his favorite. He enjoyed honking the horn before the ride too. He loved this ride so much that after he got off, we got back in line
and he rode it again right then.
and he rode it again right then.
After the motorcycles, Luke wanted to go to the playground for a little while. The playground looked brand new and was fairly safe. There were so many kids on it that I couldn't follow Luke up and down the steps and
slides like I usually do, so, from below, I nervously watched him maneuver himself around the entire playground quite nicely. At first, he climbed the steps and went down the little slide but he soon realized that he could climb these fake rocks to the top and then slide down the big slide. I bet he did that 20 times - up the rocks, down the slide. I never once helped him. He is such a climber. I was also proud of him for being cautious and
listening to me when I warned him about things from below. He did a great job of waiting his turn on the slide. Matter of fact, he let's people pass him even though they are breaking in line. I guess he's just there to have fun and doesn't get in a hurry enough to say anything to other kids - and, that's alright.:) Luke did great
making sure that everyone in front of him was off the bottom of the slide before he slid. He was also very careful about watching out for big kids. If there is a big kid running around Luke, it makes him nervous and he will
completely get out of the way.
slides like I usually do, so, from below, I nervously watched him maneuver himself around the entire playground quite nicely. At first, he climbed the steps and went down the little slide but he soon realized that he could climb these fake rocks to the top and then slide down the big slide. I bet he did that 20 times - up the rocks, down the slide. I never once helped him. He is such a climber. I was also proud of him for being cautious and
listening to me when I warned him about things from below. He did a great job of waiting his turn on the slide. Matter of fact, he let's people pass him even though they are breaking in line. I guess he's just there to have fun and doesn't get in a hurry enough to say anything to other kids - and, that's alright.:) Luke did great
making sure that everyone in front of him was off the bottom of the slide before he slid. He was also very careful about watching out for big kids. If there is a big kid running around Luke, it makes him nervous and he will
completely get out of the way.
There was a big green wall that Luke climbed a few times. The first time he climbed it, I said, "Do you think you can climb that wall?" He looked at me SOOO seriously and responded, "I feel like I can." :) And...he did with no help or problems.
Under the playground, there was a steering wheel. He started pretending to drive. While he was "driving," I asked him if he was driving to the carnival and he gave me a look as if I were the dumbest person in the world and said, "We are already here!" HILARIOUS! :)
The playground had these big leaves that were situated like ladders. He climbed these big leaves all the way to the top. He told me that he was climbing the grapevine. I'm not sure why he decided to call it the
grapevine. It was purple and did have leaves but I don't know if he heard another kid say that or if he just made it up on his own. He climbed so high on the grapevine that a tall dad helped me make sure that he didn't fall.
That man kept bragging on how great he was at climbing! And...I have to say....thanks to gymnastics, he definitely is a climber.
No one can go to the park without swinging, so Luke did swing but only for a split second.
After playing so hard that he was sweating, he sat down and drank some juice. At this point, he started getting a little silly. He put mulch all over my feet and tried to put the mulch in the trees instead of on the playground. After a diaper change, he told me he was ready to ride some more.
We had enough tickets leftover for him to ride his two favorites - the cars and the motorcycles.
It was like 12:00 and we were both getting hungry so I asked Luke if he wanted to eat and he said, "Yes, I want to eat right here." I'm guessing he meant right here at the carnival. We walked to where all of the food was sold and got a cheeseburger and French fries and used his mat in his diaper bag to sit on for a picnic. While we ate, he would take a break from eating and go push his stroller around the grassy area. He ate so sweet and used good manners. I asked him if he wanted ketchup and he said, "No, thank you." :) He saw this little girl sitting in the grass beside of us and said, "Mommy, that little girl needs a mat to sit on." (I thought it was sweet that he was concerned about that little girl sitting in the grass.
While we were eating, Luke saw a man with a big hammer and wanted one so we walked around and found one before heading home. We also stopped at a book stand and bought Luke two new books. I stopped and looked at a few other stands and while I did this, Luke was very well behaved. He stayed in his stroller and never once complained or asked for anything else besides his big hammer.
It was like 12:00 and we were both getting hungry so I asked Luke if he wanted to eat and he said, "Yes, I want to eat right here." I'm guessing he meant right here at the carnival. We walked to where all of the food was sold and got a cheeseburger and French fries and used his mat in his diaper bag to sit on for a picnic. While we ate, he would take a break from eating and go push his stroller around the grassy area. He ate so sweet and used good manners. I asked him if he wanted ketchup and he said, "No, thank you." :) He saw this little girl sitting in the grass beside of us and said, "Mommy, that little girl needs a mat to sit on." (I thought it was sweet that he was concerned about that little girl sitting in the grass.
While we were eating, Luke saw a man with a big hammer and wanted one so we walked around and found one before heading home. We also stopped at a book stand and bought Luke two new books. I stopped and looked at a few other stands and while I did this, Luke was very well behaved. He stayed in his stroller and never once complained or asked for anything else besides his big hammer.
On the way home, he read his new books until he fell asleep. As he slept, I thought about how fun our time together was. I enjoyed watching him smile on the rides. I enjoyed watching him run and climb on the playground. I enjoyed sitting on our tiny mat eating lunch together. But, some of my favorite times was when he would want to hug me for no reason as he looked up at me and said, "Hey, mommy" in the sweetest little voice. :)
For those of you who have never gone to Spring Folly, I highly recommend you check it out next year. It's always held the first Saturday in May - so mark your calendar! It's clean, the workers are nice, the crowds are not too big, and the other people around are usually very respectable.
Here are some pictures of our fun times!
In the police car...
On Sunday afternoon, Luke wanted to pull his trailer on the back of his lawn mower. All afternoon, he used his rake and his shovel and loaded dirt onto the trailer. He was working hard! Here are some pictures of his hard work. It's actually almost dark when I decided to take these...
And, some videos....
(1) Luke riding the cars.
(2) Luke riding the motorcycles.
(3) Luke on his lawn mower.
Enjoy this beautiful Spring weather! It's gorgeous today! Stay tuned for a LONG BLOG next weekend - we just returned from Lazy 5 Ranch and Patterson Farm and we have Mother's Day plans today and tomorrow AND it's Gold Medal Week at Luke's gymnastics! Fun, fun pictures and video coming your way! :)
See you soon!
Toddy
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