Art City Funfare.

So the Art City Funfare was today. It was three and a half hours of hair-spraying, face-painting, cotton candy eating, bouncy house jumping, train riding, and magician watching fun. I have decided that being a good, "fun" mom is hard work. Not only did I have to tote all the snacks and camera, but then there were the jackets and the shoes...plus my huge belly is heavy, as well. And do you think I got any thanks? No. Just a ton of, "Mom! Don't eat any more of my cotton candy!", and some, "Mom! my hands are sticky and I need a wipe. YOU DIDN'T BRING THE WIPES?!"
But there were cute moments, as well. After standing in line for about ten minutes in the hair-coloring line, Cole totally chickened out. He first had all these extravagant plans...orange with black dots, or green with some orange stripes...and then it was his turn, and he panicked. I promised that he would look cool, and he'd love it, once it was done. But he wouldn't be swayed. Cole has some severe issues with his hair and is afraid of it looking "lousy", (his exact word). He wouldn't calm down until I told him that he didn't have to, and we'd just wait for Riley to get hers done. She was brave and went with green and pink stripes. FYI, it looked fabulous. Then, after Riley's hair was done, they both decided to get tattoos. For some reason, Cole didn't have any fears of that, at all. But neither one wanted a tattoo anywhere other than on their arms. We couldn't go too crazy.



From there, we were off to the bounce houses and such. Cole is pictured in this big dragon that stretched for about forty feet. My kids loved it, but said it totally smelled like Poo inside. This, however, wasn't very ironic, being that the dragon looked like a big worm, and the kids entered at its mouth and exited out its butt. Should I feel bad that my children are so hard up for fun they don't mind crawling through a jiggly tube that reeks of feces? I don't know. But I'm choosing not to look at it that way, I'm going to stick with the "I'm a great mom for getting off my butt and doing this with them", mind-frame. The worst part? By far, it was the magic show. Of coarse, my children loved it. Cole and Riley's manic laughter at the magician's jokes rang out just as loud as all the other hundreds of kids, I kind of felt bad that I couldn't join in their laughter, until I looked around at the other adults, and realized that they were all faking their appreciation of his sense of humor. So I joined in, and tried to laugh whenever Riley and Cole did. After eating my overpriced nachos with the still-frozen cheese, I sat there with my two little ones, trying to find a way to describe how they make me feel. I'm a really selfish person. I will be the first to admit this. When I think about life, I'm really used to thinking about the stuff that pleases me. But with Riley and Cole, I totally change into something else. I would have spent another three hours in Magic Hell, if it meant that they would continue to laugh like they were. It if meant they were as happy as they were, right then. I know that my kids are happy, I'm lucky that they are easily entertained. But sometimes, at moments like these, I'm just astounded at how happy they make me.
It hits me so hard sometimes. I remember when I first realized I was in love with Jeff. He was sick and pukey. We had just gotten to Seattle with Keri, so she could move some of her stuff to Vic's house. Jeff had been sick the entire trip up there, even though he had to drive, and it got worse as soon as we arrived at our destination. I was starving, and Keri and Vic had just invited us to go out to dinner, a nice place where we could eat burgers and stuff...my favorite. And Jeff said he was too sick. You wouldn't believe how difficult it was for me to decline their offer, and stay with Jeff, while he went back and forth from the toilet to the bed. (Actually, if you know me, you also know I love to eat, so this is actually an impressive sacrifice). Anyway, it was then, while I was lying next to Jeff, ignoring my rumbling stomach, rubbing his back, and really worried about how he was feeling, that I knew. I knew he was the one for me. It took him a bit longer, however, but you get the gist. For some reason, with Jeff, I was uncomfortable, and tired and hungry...but I still felt better being uncomfortable with him, than comfortable without him. Yeah, that was a wordy way of putting it, but it's pretty simple. With Jeff, with my babies, just being with them, even if I'm miserable, is everything to me. So, anyway, that's all for me tonight. All it took was some bad nachos and hair paint/spray fumes, and rotten jokes to rekindle all my loves. Not that they had burned out, but sometimes I just need an awakening, you know? So, for future reference, you can always find something for everyone at the Art City Funfare. Look how much I got out of it. It was a good day for the kids, and most definitely, for me.