Underwood Elementary School (Brina, 2nd grade and Roni, SR-K) was hosting their Spring Carnival and I will say, it was quite the event. 7 or 8 of those bouncy thingys, dunk tank with the principal in it, face and hair painting, food, soda, live band. It was very small town America family fun feel night. I like the feeling of those nights...Within minutes of arriving, our three youngest had "lost" their shoes and took to doing it all as quickly as possible. They were so excited that within two minutes of me taking my post at the registration table as a volunteer, Dad approached me with the announcement that he'd "lost" Sabrina. Lost shoes, lost child. Hello Ripleys!!! We weren't worried, with all of those brightly colored bouncy thingys and no drivers license, how far would she (or the others) really get. Ohhh...the fun of the carnival.
Veronica and Sabrina posed for this and many other pictures. They were having a delightful time. I was impressed at how independent they were at the various activities, how skilled they were at having fun...just like all of the other kids. Sabrina tried her hand at the basketball toss and got one in, big hoop, teeny tiny ball...she conquered it!
The oldest is certainly at an age where he's seeking to determine who he is. His carnival experience from the outside looking in seemed to be sugar, sugar and girls. Whenever I looked up, there he was with candy or gum in hand or mouth and either two or three girls by his side or following him. Whew, am I ready for this? Were we like this? Really, we were like this?
Anyhoo, I imagine the school raised a lot of money. It was a nice, light atmosphere and after a stressful day, I found myself soaking in the sounds of carnival, childhood and strange as it may seem, a feel of America...I had let down my guard. I was there in the midst of a world that at times can seem so harmless, not worth getting up in arms about. We went to have fun with our kids, but I couldn't help but consider the spiritual battle going on around us EVERYWHERE. It was in what the kids were wearing, what they weren't wearing to what they were saying to their parents and what their parents were saying to each other. God is so good though. He reminds me of His steadfastness even when walking with Him isn't always "a boisterious merrymaking" (Merriam-Webster's definition of carnival).
In this life, we surely need nights out like this to help lift our spirits, but even at the carnival, even on the "upswings" of life, we need to remember to pray.
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