Week 227: Pigs, Rides, and Combos

Summer is officially here, as evidenced by how I get sunburned if I stand too close to an exterior wall and the arrival of local community carnivals. Our church had the first of the latter this weekend, and we had to make an appearance. Sam had a blast. She started off right by winning a carnival game where they had a dozen little robotic pigs lined up on a race track, and you had to place a bet on which would reach the finish line first. If you picked right, you won a little pig hat. Sam picked the winning pig, but when it reached its destination first she misinterpreted the rules and made a grab for the toy pig itself. She almost got away with it, too. Fortunately, things were put right and she looks good in the pig hat.

There were also rides set up in the church parking lot, but as usual they did nothing to put me at ease. Think about it: This kind of traveling show is designed to easily come apart and move down the road to the next venue. This sense of disquiet was amplified when I noticed that one of the giant teacups that Sam rode in had its gate held together by –and I’m totally serious here– duct tape.

My anxiety reached its apex when Sam wanted to ride on what was perhaps the most terrifying attraction, one of those giant contraptions that spins hapless children up and around 30 feet off the ground in little metal chairs that don’t look any sturdier than what you might find on any inner city playground’s swingset. Look, here’s a picture. Sam insisted, though, and so the indifferent Catholic Carny strapped her in. I cringed at the base of the machine, waiting for the inevitable snapping sound that would precede Sam’s trip over the horizon in a screaming tangent to the ride’s jolly circle. Or would be an ellipse? No, I think it would be a tangent, but I’m not entirely sure. I never really took any advanced geometry in school. I would have, but I didn’t know it would apply so directly to my progeny’s demise at the hands of rickety carnival equipment.

Mandy is doing great, and has managed to go an entire week without suffering some bodily injury –hooray! She’s starting to use two-word combinations, like “Hi, Daddy!” or “Mama’s cup” so that’s very cool. And her vocabulary in general is skyrocketing thanks to her hitting that stage where she repeats all kinds of words she hears and walks around muttering the names of things to herself, accompanied by fervent and sometimes vaguely accusatory pointing.

She’s also gotten to the age where she can really interact and play with Sammy, which is hilarious to watch when it’s not exasperating. Sam will shout orders and directives (“Follow! Follow! Follow!” seems to be her favorite playtime script), and half the time Mandy will comply but the other half of the time she’ll completely ignore Sam and do her own thing. At any rate, the best thing is to see them doing something silly together that makes them lean in towards each other and laugh big and hard. When they do that I just have to smile myself, because those are the times when it feels the most like we’re family.