River Fest

This year, the 4th of July seemed to be a three day celebration. I wasn't sure if that is normal here, or if it was just because the 4th fell on a Saturday this year, but we celebrated it for 3 days. It helped that Danny got a three day weekend which has been unusual since we have had kids (he was always working on the 4th in Des Moines). On Friday, we went to a Carnival close to Danny's work that was located in a park right along the Missouri River. Alyssa and Ashley absolutely loved the rides (we have two little dare devils). Here we are on the Merry-Go-Round.
We were a little nervous to let Alyssa try the roller coaster by herself, but we didn't want to have to pay for ourselves to take her on it, so here she is riding by herself. She wasn't even worried about going alone and she loved it. The roller coaster really whipped her to the side of her seat and was a little more rough than we liked, but it didn't bother her at all. She is the next to last car in the picture.

Here is Alyssa on the big slide. She just grabbed her mat and climbed the stairs without even looking back at us.

This was the big hit. They went on this one twice. Ashley loved it. It made me a little nervous to not be standing right next to her, but she just sat there and enjoyed the ride. And Alyssa loved being able to take her on it by herself.

After we ran out of ride tickets, we bought an ice cream cone to share and sat down to listen to the band that was playing. Danny tried to convince Alyssa to go out an dance with the few people that were dancing. She didn't want to at first, but then he got her to go out with him and Ashley. After that, Alyssa wasn't shy anymore and she stayed out there dancing the rest of the time the band was up there playing. I think the boy next to her gave her some of her courage. Sorry that there isn't sound.

That couple was all over the walkway. It was hard to get a video without them totally passing in front of Alyssa.