Parish Picnic!

June is an insanely busy month, so I am going to force myself to post as much as I can. Otherwise I will end up with one post that is WAY too long.  So The first weekend in June was the annual Parish Picnic at SMMA, and despite the rain the day before and even the morning of, it ended up being a beautiful day.  The girls immediately remembered the Ferris Wheel, so that was our first stop.

 Due to the fact that Ava and Ella started out with totally different interests (Ella's interests being the more daring of the two) there was some waiting involved since we had Gavin with us this year!

Ella remembered liking the slide and although she looked skeptical on the walk up, she loved the ride down!

Ava remembered NOT liking the slide last year, but after seeing Ella's excitement and willingness to do it alone, Ava decided she could try it "WITH" Daddy!

Then, finally, both girls were confident enough to go alone and wanted to race.  Ava won and was elated, although I think if Dan's leg wouldn't have gotten tangled up with Ella's sack it would have been a close call!?

With her new found bravery, Ava decided to try out the swings for the first time...she started out PETRIFIED! 

Then she started to enjoy herself.  She got off and said she liked it, even though both Dan and I thought she would have gotten sick.  None of us handle spinning very well.  After her second time on the swings she didn't look so good and said she had a headache. :(

Ella was shocking us all day.  She wanted to try everything, most of which she was too short for.  Dan and I were glad she wasn't any taller because we were not ready for the swings, spinning apples or the scrambler!  We decided to distract her by taking her to the obstacle course that she was actually "banned" from last year after getting to the top and freaking out two times in a row.  This year it was no problem. (She's at the top in the picture)

She went right through it without a hitch and then did it again and again and again...etc.

Ava, who was tall enough for everything, was still very cautious!  She did run into her favorite classmate, Katie, and they decided to ride the elephants together.  A ride that I think is meant for the toddlers, but one that makes Ava very comfortable.

 Ella couldn't reach the pedals, but with Dad's help she had a great time on the bumper cars.

This was another one that no one wanted anything to do with last year, but Ella 

jumped right in this year!

 And again, once Ava and Katie saw how much fun Ella had, they decided to try it out.  Without Dad's help the pedals were challenging.  Ava slid down and reached the pedals while Katie drove, I think they still spent a majority of the time in one spot.

Unfortunately, Gavin was not enjoying himself.  Too little and too tired to have any fun.

I did ask if they would let me bring him on the elephants to see if that would cheer him up.  He refused to look at the camera as the ride was getting started.  Surely, he would like being up in the air??

 Nope, he never cracked a smile and never even moved his head.  I will say, as long as I kept giving him snacks he didn't whine or cry, and this whole afternoon occurred right during his nap time so it could have been much worse.

You may have noticed Ava's cheek earlier, but here is a better shot.  It was quite the rainbow, Ava went first and then we asked Ella if she wanted to do it too...she looked at Ava's cheek and said "no thank you".  Ava liked it and that's all that matters.

By late afternoon Gavin was getting SO tired, I was running out of snacks and I think he was getting full anyway.  The girls made one last stop on the little cars that just go VERY SLOWLY around a track.

We then headed home, let Gavin sleep, and although we intended to return later for the fireworks, we were all exhausted and opted to order pizza and have a movie night instead!

It was a fun-filled LONG day. It's a great Parish Picnic and one that we hope to attend for many years to come.