Excursions

After the recent debacle at the Mexican restaurant, I was convinced that we wouldn't be taking our "fun-spirited" toddler -- a name they had dubbed him at daycare -- anywhere public anytime soon. Of course, we completely forgot about that when we decided to take Ethan out for a family fun excursion last weekend.

First stop, the Charleston Ribfest.

My expectations weren't high, but I was curious so we checked it out. They had the usual rusted carnival rides and over-priced games, but my favorite part was when a midget-attendant (he really was a "small person", about an inch taller than Ethan) tried to pursuade my son to fish for a toy shark in a blow up pool. I had better ideas to spend $3 than that, but the attendant insisted and almost forcefully tried to put the fishing pole on Ethan's hands. Well, my little socialite wasn't about to be forced to do anything... so he threw the fishing pole as hard as he could and screamed like there was no tomorrow. I wish I had taken a photo of the attendant's face after that....

I have to say after paying a ridiculous entrance fee and a ridiculous price for a rib platter, I wasn't very impressed. My mood might've been skewed a little when we got in the mud-infested "paid area" (definitely not stroller-friendly). It became a chore just finding a place to sit without sinking. I thought the consolation would be the great food (especially for what they charge you for), but it really wasn't all that moving either.

So after a disappointing lunch and a quick ride on the circling elephants, we left in search for something else better to do. (I have to say, the best part for Mike might've been when I wrongfully directed him to use the ATM in a stripclub across the parking lot -- ironically, I didn't pay attention that the building had a sign that said "Mike's Fun Place").

Next stop, the matinee.

Now, I don't know what the general rule of thumb is for bringing toddlers to the movies, but I've heard that most theatres allow the little-little ones in the matinees. And we were hoping that if Ethan would sit through anything (other than the Wiggles)... it would be the Simpsons. So we made sure we had the essentials in hand -- sippy cup, pacifier, bag of M&Ms, and a whole lot of guts -- and bought tickets to a 4:00 showing. Of course, we forgot that it was opening weekend and the theatre was packed. Ethan actually did really well for 2/3 of the movie.. he laughed when everyone laughed, blurted a couple of "uh-ohs" whenever Bart got hurt, clapped when everyone clapped. We were optimistic he would actually make it through, but slowly became less tolerant of sitting still and wanted to wander around and touch people's heads. Before I started to get sneers, I took him to the side and we watched the rest of the movie near the exit (missing a shoe).

Overall, we had a fun-filled afternoon.