...carnivals...

Do you dare? Andy and I hate spinny rides, so we didn't.

Local carnivals.

When you hear the words your mind might conjure up vivid images of large crowds and laughing children. Maybe you can almost smell and taste the most delicious fried foods. Perhaps you think of the games, with little trinkets to be won, and the carnival workers provoking you to play. Or could it be the terror and fear of the dreaded carnival ride? Put up in a matter of days, you sincerely wonder, can this hunk of metal really be trusted?

Saturday evening Andy and I headed a town over to attend the annual Ballwin Days. I've had many friends who have attended, but I was never really interested, so in the spirit of trying something new, we headed out for just an hour to see what all the fuss was about.

This poor woman's legs. She wasn't the only one.

It had been pouring earlier in the day, causing the soggy, wet grass and mud to cling to and cake the feet and legs of all in attendance.

We walked the perimeter first, to see what we wanted to do, and then headed to the ticket booth. Yikes! Carnival rides are expensive! With only a few dollars for the evening, we chose one ride (the one that looked the least terrifying) and headed in it's direction.

Pharaoh's Fury is basically a giant swing, moving forward and backward, in the shape of a ship. I honestly thought it would be much tamer. (Sadly, it probably was.) As we were the first two (and only two) in line, Andy insisted we sit in the very back. After a few minutes, two others hopped aboard and we were off!

I actually really love roller coasters, but for some reason, the first dip so shocked me that I screamed. I grabbed Andy's arm and pushed my knees into the seat in front of me, mistakenly thinking I could counteract the effects on my stomach, but it didn't work. The woman across from us then screamed as her end of the ship plummeted back to earth. And there we were, two grown women, screaming back and forth, most likely scaring away any potential riders. (I didn't feel so badly when I heard many others screaming later on.)

The men working the ride certainly got a kick out of it. They laughed and tried to get us to put our arms up in the air. When I did manage to let go of Andy's arm, I was shaking so intensely that I could barely move my arms let alone raise them. I was woozy the rest of the evening.

Winning things for me.

Deacon!

Then, Andy displayed his manly prowess with darts and won me this super cute little monkey! Though we asked for name suggestions, we settled on Deacon, since his foot said Dakin Co. and Deacon sort of sounded like Dakin. If we're ever blessed with a baby, Deacon will grace the jungle inspired walls, though I'm thinking I'll have to give it a good cleaning first.

Soon we settled down for the best carnivals have to offer: food. A turkey leg, caramel popcorn and a water. We listened to the musical stylings of the Kids Rock students and then walked back to our car.

This is when it was slowing down.
Felt you needed to see to understand.
Amazed I didn't drop my phone.

Though we only stayed an hour, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at Ballwin Days.

As I was still shaken up, I couldn't get Pharaoh's Fury out of my mind. I awoke this morning and considered the few times in my life that I have chosen to raise my arms, screaming, flailing, allowing the full force of inertia to pull me up and out of my seat and then throw me right back down again. It's been a while since I've trusted like that. But I think, if I'm going to live out a great adventure, I'll need to ride this roller coaster of life with a bit more abandon.

Sometimes, the only way to survive and thrive is to raise your arms to the sky and let the moment take you where it will.