Carnival and fireworks

N has been asking to see fireworks for a while now, so we decided to take him to the local carnival and watch them. Little did we know that they weren't going to start until 11pm! We thought that they would be at 10 and figured that he would last that long, thanks to a late nap. But we were not so sure when were heard that they wouldn't start until later than that. 

We didn't get to the carnival until 8 figuring that we would kill some time riding the rides and getting something to eat. The local fire company was giving rides, so we paid up and J and N had a 5 minute ride on top of the fire truck. N loved it and in true N style had a 'discussion' with J about not wanting her to hold onto him and wanting to do it himself! 

Then we hit the rides - all 3 of them that we could get him on. For most of the rides the kids have to be 36 inches to ride and N is not there yet. He is a 3, nearly 4 year old in a 2 year olds body. He loves the rides and would have loved to go on more than he was allowed too. The crazy thing was that he wasn't even tall enough to ride the carousel, probably the most tame ride that there is. But he did get on a car ride, a flying elephant thing and a spinning strawberry one. The rides are pretty small, so adults were not allowed on them too, which is how we've gotten him on other rides before. Guess we should have found some shoes that would add an extra inch or 2 to his height! 

Riding the rides took up some time, but didn't get us that close to firework time. J and I talked about giving up for the night and heading home, but N kept insisting that he wanted to see the fireworks and asking when they were coming. As he seemed to be holding up pretty well we decided to see how long he'd hold out. We made it to 11 and are so glad that we stayed. He absolutely loved the fireworks. He wasn't scared at all, which we both thought he might be. While he was watching the fireworks he threw his head back and laughed with delight. It was the most amazing thing to see and made us enjoy it all the more.
I remember being so scared of fireworks when I was a child. I often spent bonfire night at my grandparents house, cowering on the sofa, avoiding the whole thing! I don't think I really got over it until I was much older and never really found any enjoyment in them. But watching them through my sons eyes made it so magical!

We left the carnival at 11.30, after wrangling a very excited little boy into a diaper, hoping he'd nod off on the way home. But he had other ideas. It's only a 15 minute ride home and he was still wide awake when we pulled into our driveway. We got him into his PJs and went through a condensed bedtime routine that had him in bed by 12.30. He slept until 10.15 this morning so that wasn't too bad!