Day At The Fair

This was the first year that Esperanza has been tall enough to go on the rides in the little kids section at the fair. Last year she only got to go on the horse carousel, over and over and over again. At 36" tall exactly this year, she just barely made it. I'd have been happy if she was only 35" and we stayed on the horses one more year. But I'm just the paranoid mama.
We went to the fair with some friends and their kids last weekend. One of the kids, Gavn, is Esperanza's age, so they went on the rides together. Before they got on the very first ride, I overheard the carni guy tell the kids that if they got scared, to raise their hand and he'd let them off. Esperanza didn't hear him so I told her, and reminded her again just before she got on, to go ahead and raise her hand if she gets scared. Big mistake, big.

The teacup ride started off good...A few minutes into the ride, up goes her hand. I began laughing, and was close enough to holler at Esperanza to put her hand down, that she was fine. She put her hand down. A minute later, her hand was right back up in the air. The carni guy asked me if he should stop the ride. I said no, still laughing, knowing right away it was my own fault for planting the fear, and telling Esperanza she could do this. Then Esperanza started screaming, not crying, screaming. I think the carni guy thought I was a mean mom. He stopped the ride and let her off. She really is just a drama queen, and I had set it up for her to perform the perfect dramatic moment. My fault.
Hand in the air

When she got off, I told her if she wanted to go on any more rides, she wasn't going to have the opportunity to get off - so either get on and stay on, or don't get on at all. Needless to say, she had fun on all the other rides.

The boys and their strollers

Esperanza and Gavn on the train caboose She loved the goats

And the Llamas