The Festival

The SVF festival was a blast, as usual. This year, we purchased wristbands for Madi and Jimmy only knowing that Charlie might not be quite "into it" yet. We also opted to leave him home with a sitter Friday night and ventured out with Madi to give her some special time with Mommy & Daddy.

Accompanied by Bubba, Grandpa, Grandpa Murphy, and Miss Suzanne, we had the best fish fry on earth for dinner, and Madi was pumped that Grandpa Murphy wanted to go on one of the craziest rides with her.

My favorite part of the night was the bumper cars. Jimmy went in a car with Madi's friend, Isabelle, which left Madi and her friend, Olivia, in a car together. Madi was the designated driver. It hadn't occurred to me that Madi wouldn't know what to do until they started the ride. Hilarious. She was totally stuck and just started spinning the car in circles, and Jimmy and Isabelle kept slamming into them. I tried to take pictures, but I was laughing so hard (almost peed my pants) that I couldn't see through the lens. I figured it best to just enjoy the moment. Finally, Madi developed a determined gleam in her eye, and quickly figured out how to drive that car. Her mission then became revenge, and she tore after Daddy's car every chance she could. Oh my my, I haven't laughed that hard in a while.

Before the bumper cars

We returned on Saturday after Charlie's nap. Daytime was a much wiser choice of introduction to the festival for Charlie. His eyes were wide as saucers as he watched the rides in disbelief. I think he just couldn't grasp why anyone would do such a thing!  Madi could hardly wait to get him on some rides, but we had a feeling he'd be frightened. She and Daddy took him on two of the kiddie rides, and we quickly discovered that his favorite "ride" was his stroller!  He stayed there pretty much all night, except when he was comfortable enough to get out and run, jump, or dance around.

On the apple ride

Charlie's favorite ride

Jumping!

Madi went on this super-scary ride called the Extreme.  It looked like a big pendulum/crane/claw thing, and Madi looked like a tiny ant in the seat. I was a little worried about her. After the ride, she was quite traumatized and felt sick. She vowed not to go on that ride ever again. We treated her ailment with some french fries figuring perhaps she was hungry.  Two hours later, she was back on that ride with Daddy and a friend. She was obviously not going to let that thing beat her!

After the ride

The "Extreme" with Madi on it!

The Miami Dolphins cheerleaders were there to sign autographs. One of them, Casey, is the daughter of a teacher (and friend) at SVF, who helped to bring Charlie home through the fundraiser last November. It was pretty special to have him photographed with her!  Madi enjoyed it, too.