My Real Life

So, every Labor Day weekend, our town hosts a “Block Party.”  Years ago, when it began, it was a “Block Dance,” and there was music and free birch beer.  Now it has evolved to a petting zoo, rides for the kids, free birch beer, actual beer you pay for, hot dogs, ice cream, a raffle for gifts from local merchants and a 50-50.  Oh, and REALLY LOUD MUSIC.

The Block Party, this year, was held on Saturday night.  It was a lot of fun.  The kids love the rides and the animals.  The adults get to converse with the other adults in town, because pretty much everyone who lives here goes.  A good time is always had by all.

My monkeys certainly enjoyed themselves.  Baby Monkey wanted to ride this ride that swings back and forth, back and forth, like a big, huge clock pendulum.  Monkey Girl and her cousin, who is also in 3^rd grade, were very tolerant of him, because he wanted to ride with them, which meant they couldn’t ride on the top level.  They are really, really good girls.

Monkey in the Middle took some turns with him as well.  Here they are waiting to go on the Whip. 

I’m not sure how kids don’t break their necks on this thing.  Must be the malleability of kids.  If adults went on, I guarantee they’d all be suing.

Monkey Girl wanted to go on everything, and she did.  Multiple times.  She went with her cousins and friends from school.

Monkey in the Middle turned out to be quite the ladies man.  It seemed that every line he got in, he had some other 5 year old girl that he knew from pre-school or kindergarten wanting to hold his hand and ride with him.  On one ride, three of them couldn’t decide who was going to get to ride with him, so they smushed in four to a seat so no one was left out.  It was very cute.

However, in the end, as always, Monkey in the Middle had his eyes trained for his two cousins, who are also in kindergarten.  My sisters-in-law and I were all pregnant at the same time and so the one girl cousin was born in December, the other in January and then he was born in February.  It’s worked out really nicely, although sometimes that number three can be tricky.

Here he is with one of the cousins.  We call these two double trouble. 

Here he is with her again and Monkey Girls first communion. 

You can see it on their faces.  He’s about to do something and she is totally in on the scheme.  When the three of them get to high school, that place won’t know what hit it.

After the rides were starting to shut down, Monkey Girl and Baby Monkey had ice cream cones for $1.00 each.  Vanilla, with sprinkles.  Good deal and made them very happy.

Then, it’s time for the raffle.  Throughout the week prior to the Block Party, local merchants have the raffle tickets in their stores at the checkout counters.  It is free to enter, and almost all of the local merchants donate something.  The prizes range from a free apple pie from the farmers market to a $50 gift card to Stop-n-Shop grocery store to a gift bag from the local jeweler, etc. 

So, they start calling the names.  Two members of my family won, and the prizes were both pretty ironic.  If you’ve been reading the blog regularly, you’ll remember that Monkey in the Middle just spent $30 of his hard earned money on a Thomas the Tank Engine train set addition he’s been wanting at Barnes and Noble.  Guess who won a $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble at the Block Party?  You guessed it…Monkey in the Middle.  My good friend, Jean, said that I should tell him that this is good karma.  When you work hard, good things come back to you.  I like that idea.

My neice won a few free piano lessons at a local music store.  The irony?  I teach piano lessons on the weekend.  Obviously, it would have been way more ironic had I  won the piano lessons, but still…she’s in the family.

The night ended with the 50-50 drawing which was won by a boy that I estimate to be about 11.  He won $445.  Talk about good karma!

It was 9:15 when it was all over and done. We came home and put the kids right to bed.  They were zonked. 

Although there can be frustrating aspects to small town life sometimes, evenings like that are definitely one of the best things about living in a small town.  Good clean fun.