The Workhouse Arts Center (just up the road from us) was having their first ever carnival! We’ve been wanting to take the kids to one to see if they like the rides, so figured the timing and location was perfect (we went as soon as they opened for the weekend)! Of course, the tickets are outrageous ($1 each or 48 for $40) and each ride takes 3-5 tickets (!) but since this was their first time, we went in for the whole hog.
We started Katie on this basic car carousel. She seemed to think it was fun but was glad to get off.
Then we walked around to see what else there was, and ended up at the actual carousel. Katie wanted NOTHING to do with getting on a horse and Owen was over the weight limit to ride a horse, so they both sat on the bench. Six dollars for them to ride around in a circle. NOT EVEN ON A HORSE! They didn’t LOVE it but they didn’t HATE it.
All they wanted to do was play the stupid games…which of course take CASH and not the tickets we’d already bought. GRRRR. So we made them try the mini roller coaster. Owen seemed to like it, but Katie DID NOT. She wanted to get off within the first three seconds…but she wasn’t screaming so we just let her ride it out. (Tom was going to ride it with them, but his legs wouldn’t fit!)
So then we said they could go to the games and that was all they needed to hear.
Katie wanted a duck. So $3 later she picked a super cheap plastic sword (you’ll see pics later).
Owen did a shooting game that was over so fast I didn’t even get a chance to record it or even take a picture! (It was a shoot until you knock a cup down game, so I thought it would take a bit longer than six seconds. It didn’t.) Owen didn’t get the choice of toy, but was happy with what he got.
Katie didn’t want to ride ANY more rides so it was all Owen. He didn’t want the ferris wheel (which I had no problem with since I don’t like them) or any of the bigger kid/adult rides. Part of me is glad we don’t have an adrenaline junkie, but I LOVED all those rides so I kind of wanted him to like them…but he IS only six. 🙂
Owen wanted to go in the Monkey House (basically a small mirrored maze, some fun mirrors, and a curly slide) and got a little turned around so Tom went in with him. Cost? $10. TEN DOLLARS. Breathe. Breathe. 🙂
Katie’s sword!
We convinced Owen to try the swing. He seemed to enjoy it at the start, but as it went faster and higher we saw him tilting his head to the side and Tom and I both thought he looked like he was going to puke. He never did, and it turned out it was just from centrifugal force. (We did ask him if he had felt sick at all on the ride—if his belly hurt or if his head felt woozy—and he said no. Phew.)
Of course there’s no refund on tickets and both were pretty much done so we wasted another $8 in tickets on a three-minute train ride. Sigh.
And to spend the remaining $10, Owen went down this slide twice. He did love it, though. 🙂
In the end, their favorite thing? The games. Owen wanted to go back, but we were busy the whole weekend. We will probably skip carnivals until they’re a bit older and may like some of the rides more.