A Story from September.

The other day I found some photos that reminded me of this story...so I thought I'd share so at least there'd be something new on my blog until I can post about our trip or the baby's gender next week!

This last Fall some new people from church invited us to dinner. They invited a few other couples over as well; people who I know but not very well.

We had to come late to the dinner because of Joseph’s work schedule, so I felt a little awkward knowing everyone else had been there for quite a while getting better acquainted. After dinner, one of the guests mentioned that they work at a facility where they test carnival rides for children, and there was one in their warehouse ready for people to ride; it had been fully tested.

Everyone decided they wanted to take the kids to go try it out! We were a little apprehensive , because we thought our kids were too little to ride it anyway, and we had just arrived at their house not to long ago. We went along anyway, figuring we could watch. Besides, they were planning on playing games later at the house, and we didn’t want to just go home.

The ride consisted of seven seats in a row, the center seat being adult size while the others were obviously fitted for children. The seats would rise into the air, and then plummet a ways and bounce back up, repeating this process several times. I think it was called “The Frog Hopper” or something. The first group got on, including a few kids who were a little older than Elora but about her same size. They seemed to enjoy the ride, but Elora didn't seem interested; she was afraid that she would fall out if she got on.

Different combinations of people rode it several times, including some adults. Finally, when they said it was almost time to go, Elora decided she wanted to ride if I would sit next to her. She didn't want to miss out! We climbed aboard and I held her hand, thinking she would probably ask to get down almost immediately. When they started the ride up I braced myself for her crying or clinging to me. Was I surprised when she wasn’t crying, but actually shrieking with laughter! She thought it was great! Her reaction was much more pronounced than any of the other kids who had gone, and the adults all found it very amusing.

Meanwhile, Joshua had watched the first load of people ride, and it had terrified him. Joseph had taken him out to walk in the parking lot, because sensitive Josh was truly worried about all those kids jerking up and down. When Elora got on, we think Joshua must have heard her laughing, because he started gesturing for Joseph to take him back inside. When we climbed back on for a second turn, Joshua watched with interest. This time instead of crying, he also screamed with laughter because he saw that Elora was having so much fun!

When it was time to go, he ran up to the machine and was trying to climb up. We let him sit in it for a minute, and he was furious when we took him out! He was arching his back and reaching for the ride, trying to get back in.

It was a surprisingly fun evening for all.