Going Steady

This last weekend my home town had a carnival. They have it every summer but I hadn't gone in years. Nothing had really changed. It's your average small town fair I suppose. Though I don't recall ever going to any other small town fairs. So who am I to say it's average?

There are a few rides: the Octopus, the Tilt-a-Whirl, a carousel, swings, the Scrambler (though this time it was a different machine and they called it the Sizzler). And this year they had a Ferris Wheel. They never had one when I was growing up. They had the Zipper for a few years but that disappeared by the time I was old enough to not be afraid to ride it. Unfortunately, the Ferris Wheel was not cooperating with us that evening so we never got to ride that.

There's the typical carnival food: corn dogs, cotton candy, funnel cake. I only partook of the last one. God, it was good. I freaking love fried dough. Now I'm hungry.

Then there were carnival games. You know the type. Throwing darts at balloons, knocking over cups, picking a rubber duck from a pool, tossing a ring. Well, that last one wasn't there this year. Actually, I'm not sure it was ever there. I never played any of those games. I always spent my money on food and rides. But this year was different. This year I went to the carnival with my boyfriend. I told him he needed to prove his love to me by winning me a stuffed animal. Just like the movies. Although, now that I think about it, I can't name any one movie where that happened. The image is clear in my mind: a boy Letterman's jacket with his hair slicked back, a girl in a poodle skirt with her hair tied in a perfect bow. He either plays the shooting game, the ball toss game, or that one game where you use the comically large hammer to ring the bell. He wins a silly pink stuffed dog or something, she cheers, and they happily ever after. The scene is so familiar but I couldn't tell you where it I know it from. It's just one of those things I suppose.

Anyway, he didn't win me a pink stuffed dog. I got a green giraffe!

I named him Alfie (short for Alfonso). Way cooler than a pink dog. He was won at the duck pond game. Not as thrilling as ringing the bell, but still quite effective. And giraffes are kinda my favorite so I'm pretty excited about it.

Also, in the process of winning Alfie for me, Dustin (aka the boyfriend) acquired a few other trinkets. Turns out winning the big prize on the first go around is quite rare. Who knew?

The first game played was the gun one. In the movies it's always some cardboard duck you shoot with a water pistol. Here it was plastic cups and a rifle that shot corks.

From this game, we walked away with three 'prizes'.

This sad, misshapen elephant. His head is permanently tilted to the left and his trunk is the size of his foot. But he's still kinda cute in an awkward way. 

This mini plastic bow and arrow set. It has a little rubber suction cup like apparatus on the end, but it doesn't stick to anything. 

And I've been told this was an attempt at a frog. But to me it just looks like some deformed, pitiable creature who's given up on life.

As a side note, we're going to a drive-in movie on Friday. I kinda want to wear a poodle skirt.