Hillview Carnival

Saturday, Corwin's school put on a Halloween carnival, and we decided to take the boys.  I remember having a carnival similar to this at my elementary school, and I looked forward to the event every year.  The boys agreed to spend a little of their birthday money for games, so there was really no excuse not to go.

Corwin went in last year's costume, Darth Vader, and Owen went in Corwin's old costume as an astronaut.  Owen was very excited to dress like a space man.  All the way to the carnival he asked if we were going to go "3-2-1 blastoff" in the space shuttle.  How do you explain that a minivan is the closest thing he'll probably ever get to riding in a space shuttle.  :)

Both boys entered the costume contest.  They had 3 or four categories, divided by age.  Astronaut Owen won his division of ages 3 and under.  He got a blue ribbon, $3, and two vouchers for free french fries from McDonald's and Burger King.  He wasn't nearly as excited as Mommy was.

Corwin didn't win his division, but the competition was pretty stiff.  I told Jason that modern costume costumes don't hold a candle to the old ones.  Now, every kid has a store-bought costume.  Gone are the good ol' days of homemade costumes.

They had the typical carnival games (fish pond, dart throw, pie throw, etc.), jumpy houses, and a haunted house.  Corwin was convinced that he was big enough and tough enough to go through the haunted house.  I had my doubts, but he insisted.  So, Daddy and Corwin went through it.  Apparently, Corwin only had his eyes open during the first half.  He came out with tear streaks down his face.  Daddy was laughing and vouched for it being a really, really, GOOD haunted house.  Not appropriate for a 6-year-old.  Corwin kept talking about it afterwards, how it wasn't nice for those people to scare kids like that.  Ha ha.  I tried to warn him.  Sometimes we just have to learn by experience.  (I'm afraid he might have a little of his Mommy in him.)

Anyway, we had a good time, and the boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  It was fun to see Corwin interact with some of his school friends.  He played the dart throw about a dozen times.  We came home with a collection of candy, some cheap toys, and prayers for no nightmares.