Caniac Carnival

Last Sunday was the Caniac Carnival in Raleigh, which is a big shindig that the Canes put on to officially kick off hockey season...it's a good time -- live music, lots of bouncy things for the kids to play on, and this year, they brought back the red/white scrimmage game.

We got there about an hour before the game started, so we grabbed a couple of hotdogs and drinks (which, at this event,  are the cheapest you'll be able to get them all season), and Ella decided she wanted to try some of the bouncy things.

Jon and I were a little hesitant because we've seen the crazy violent throwing around of bodies that goes on in some of these bounce devices, and Ella is not an agressive kid when it comes to stuff like that.  Plus she's tiny.  Also, she tends to say she wants to do big, brave stuff, only to not be quite so big and brave when it comes down to it.

But anyway, we went ahead, although we started out pretty small, with a little mini-bounce house:

Clearly, that went over pretty well.

While we'd been waiting in line, Ella had spotted a big inflatable slide near where we were standing, and had declared that she wanted to do that next.  This was one of those deals where you also had to climb up the inflatable ladder/staircase to get to the top.  I must have asked her 3 or 4 times if she was sure she wanted to try that one, and every time, I was met with a resounding, "Yeah!"

I was pretty convinced that Jon would have to help her up the stair ladder.  With her eye issues, she had depth perception issues, and even though they've gotten better since her surgery, she's still tentative on stairs.

So we waited in line again, and when it was her turn, she stormed up the stairs without even looking back at us, and slid on down like it was her job!

Up and down!

After that, she did a couple more bounce things, and then it was almost time for the red/white game.  We headed in, stopping at the team store and dropping some money -- and Jon surprised Ella with her first hockey jersey!  We were a little bit more excited about it that she was, though.  I don't have a good picture of her with it on yet -- soon!

We only stayed for the first period of the game, but it was fun, and great to see live hockey again after having not been to a game in such a long while.

Goal!

The reason we only stayed one period is because earlier, Ella had spotted what she referred to as "the spin".  And she would NOT let up about wanting to go ride it.  Basically, it was this thing with 4 seats and handlebars out in front of each seat that the riders would pump to propel the ride (sometimes sickeningly fast) around in a circle.

We thought at first that there was a height restriction, but I checked with a volunteer, and she confirmed that there wasn't.  So we waited, and tried to make sure that Ella really know what she was getting into.

The gals who were running the ride did a good job of pairing up people kind of in the same age group, so Ella was with 3 other younger girls...no chance of anyone getting slung off the ride.

Once she got on the ride, I think she was a little nervous -- no smiles or anything -- but when she got off, she said it was fun!  She couldn't really reach the handle to help pump, but she tried.  It was cute.

And so ended our day of fun -- we hit The Cheesecake Factory for lunch on the way back, and the poor kid was so worn out, she didn't eat anything, and fell asleep before we were on the highway.  If that's not the sign of a good day, I don't know what is.