The Carnival

This morning I woke to the sound of little elephants tromping above my head.  Caleb had taken it upon himself to get Anna Ruth out of her crib when she awoke.  (This was a first.)

As I wandered into the kitchen to make a special breakfast of Belgian waffles, the troops came downstairs and went to work straight away on using ALL of their legos to build a variety of weapons (swords, axes, pistols and rifles). It has been fun to watch Anna Ruth in the past few days plant herself in the middle of all of her big brothers' activities.

After breakfast, I headed upstairs and the boys informed me that after my shower, "the carnival" would be ready.  They had been working since they awoke to set it up.  It wasn't quite ready, but I got to sit at the top of the stairs to wait.  After a few false starts, the big moment finally arrived: the carnival was open!!!

I was invited to come in and told I could look around, then I was to sit on the stools and shoot at the targets.  I needed to shoot all three targets down (Batman, Superman, and Batmite) and had unlimited chances.  There would be two rounds of the game, each with a different gun.  I had unlimited ammo and no time limit.  Oh yeah, and the game was free to play`.  (Boy, this was my kind of carnival!) The prize dispersal rules were strict:  I would get a prize for each figurine knocked down.  Caleb would choose the first prize, then I could choose the second and third.

In the end I won all six prizes, and the boys took turns taking pictures of me.  I can't say how many rounds I shot, or how many times Caleb reminded me that I needed to "cycle the action" after each shot.  A lot.

Following the game, it was time to dress up.  My options were blue bunny ears, a Larry Boy hat, or a spider man mask.  I could choose two.  I chose the bunny ears and Larry Boy hat, which I then shared with Sissy.  We got our pictures taken again, then it was on to the exhibition hall where I could look at a Lincoln Log cabin, constructed special just for me or a display of the earlier assembled lego weaponry.

Finally, Caleb announced that the carnival was over and they began the cleanup process.  Since then, there have been at least 50 arguments, several giggle sessions, a rousing game of "Narnians" outside as the boys marched with their stick swords and knives, and a sticky mess of peanut butter and honey sandwiches and spilled milk.  Breakfast dishes are still on the counter, beds are unmade, laundry remains unfolded and unwashed, and the house is a general mess.  And yet, here I sit, carving out time to capture the carnival. Overall, it's lining up to be a fairly unproductive day as far as the planner and housework tasks are concerned.  However, I'm guessing in the long run, these are the days I'll remember as being the most productive of all.