Carnival in In the Meadow

This week we went to a carnival at a nearby church. We got to the carnival and walked around to see everything. The kids decided right away they wanted to go in the funhouse. It looked like an awesome funhouse, and I was tempted to go in myself (there were lots of adults going in.) But I decided I wanted to go on the scrambler instead. So the kids went in the funhouse. Then Kayla and Timmy went on the bumper cars. Aaron went on the toy car children's ride. He wasn't tall enough for the bumper cars. Then we all went on the scrambler. It was a little scary getting on and off because the car was high off the ground.

We are still giving away bottles of Pellegrino from the catered luncheon for my cousin's wedding. The caterers brought enough for four hundred people easily. I guess the worst thing that can happen at a wedding is to run out of liquor, so they bring plenty of extra.

This past weekend I was helping a friend get ready to move. Her husband is in the military with my husband, and they are being transferred out west. The military provides movers, but you still have to do a lot of the prep work yourself.

While we were working we put on some movies to keep the kids occupied. One of them was Cheaper By the Dozen. I don't know why I've been so obsessed with the family I grew up in recently. Maybe it is the twins getting to the age where we are talking to them about families. Not that we weren't talking before, but it's more important now. My mom and her sister had ten kids between them. We sort of grew up together. So it was a little bit like the movie Cheaper By the Dozen, but different too. I was watching the part where one of the boys doesn't feel like he fits in with the rest of his family. I always felt that way in my family too. Maybe every kid from a big family feels that way to some extent, and you notice what it is that makes you different.

One of the things that is unique about me is that out of the six guys and four girls, I am the only one to have served in the military. Interestingly, both of our fathers were career military. My parents definitely did not want me to go into the military (which may be why no one else did.) I never considered going in after high school. When I was in college one of my roommates was in ROTC. Her dad was career military and was really excited that she was going into the military. Through her I met other ROTC cadets and some of their parents were career military. I went into the military after college. Once I finished training it was mostly just a job. I left active duty when the Afghanistan War had been going on for a while and the Iraq War had just started. I guess there was some excessive optimism at that time.