Oak Creek Lions Fest

Cotton Candy covered tongues!

Yesterday we took our granddaughters to the Oak Creek Lions Fest which is a carnival that has been held over the Labor Day weekend since I was a kid (probably even longer) over at the local legion post. During the 4-day event, Saturday between 11 am and 3:30 was designated for children's events so it was a perfect time to take them to their first carnival. When I checked the weather report, there was 0% precipitation between 11 am and 1 pm but after that the chance of rain went up to 75%. So we were going to get there at 11 and hope for the best.

As we headed to the car, it started rain hard. So while it poured, we debated whether we were going to grab some umbrellas or scrap the whole idea of going.  By the time we grabbed the umbrellas the rain stopped.  It was a short but hard rain that left very large puddles on the road.  Since the children's events were being held in a large dance hall, we weren't terribly worried about the weather, however, the girls' chances of going on the carnival rides were pretty slim.

The ride to the legion post is about 5 minutes. It's about 4 miles away. When we got there, we pulled right up into one of the available disabled parking spaces. We were a little surprised that there weren't many people there but we decided they must have stayed away because of the rain.  We ordered some beverages and the server told us it never rained! So the rides are going and no one will get wet. Yay!

The first thing we saw were horses.  There were two and the girls were tickled to go and pet them. That is until they saw all the trailers selling popcorn and cotton candy and games with all the stuffed animals to win.  It was toddler eye candy. We gently guided them into the dance hall where all the activities were going on.  Chloe instantly wanted to get a balloon animal made for her.  As we waited in line, I also took a number for her to get her face painted.  Avery is too little to care about these things so her mother took her over to a 'fish pond' (a kiddie pool full of water) that had about 50 little rubber ducks floating in it.  Each one had a prize value on it and each kid could pull some out of the water for a prize.

Avery had fun with this while she waited for her sister.  The balloon wielding clown was making Chloe a Twilight Sparkle balloon animal fashioned after her favorite My Little Pony character.  It took him a very long time.  After making the purple pony, he added pink wings and a dark purple mane to complete the look. It was impressive. He even took a photo of it for his portfolio.

After that was completed Chloe headed over to the 'fish pond' by her sister. There she proceeded to win her choice of not one, but two of the top prizes available.  She took home a giant stuffed Care Bear and a stuffed Husky dog and a blow-up sword and some other little trinkets. It was the mother lode!

Chloe's number was called and we went over to the face painting table and when she sat down, all of a sudden she changed her mind.  That was surprising because she loves having her face painted.  The artist-clown doing the face painting talked her into a arm tattoo with the characters from Frozen. She was thrilled by the time it was done.

We ordered the girls some chicken tenders and french fries so they could eat before we headed outside to the rides.  They ate while attending a puppet show. The puppet show had a penguin character so Avery chose a penguin  for her balloon animal. So the very talented clown made here a penguin balloon animal that was incredible.

By then it was 1 pm and surprisingly, it wasn't raining. It looked absolutely sunny so our risk was paying off, no rain! We took the girls on the merry-go-round first. They loved it. So we took them on the little cars next, they were faster than the merry-go-round and they still loved it.  So we headed to the little roller coaster shaped like an alligator. Chloe was so excited, she couldn't wait.  I don't think Avery knew what she was getting into, she was just happy to follow her sister. So off they went, Chloe was grinning ear to ear, Avery didn't look so excited. I don't think it helped that Avery was getting tired.  Once the ride was over, Avery was done with them, she didn't want to go on any more. Chloe didn't care. She was going again without her sister, she liked it that much.

After that, I took Chloe on the ferris wheel. I figured it was something I could do without injuring myself and Chloe would get the thrill of being way up high.  When we got to the top I put my arms up in the air and yelled 'weeeee'! Chloe asked me to hang on to her, she was a little nervous.  After the first time around she relaxed and said I could let go of her. She commented on how pretty the view was. Of course she was repeating what I had said on our last time around. By the fourth time around Chloe was holding up her arms yelling 'weeeee'!  That's my girl!

Chloe just loved the rides and I was glad for that. It was her first time and it was wonderful.  After the rides we sat and listened to a band called SuperFly.  Jeff's co-worker, Carlos is in the band and Carlos was thrilled to see him.  We stayed until the girls fell asleep then we left.  By then it was after 5. Here we thought we would be at the carnival for just an hour or two and get out before the rain came. Some of the best days are the ones that surprise you.