Dear Son #1, #2, & #3,
Traditions are not a huge deal in our family, we have some but don’t necessarily live by them to the extent that other families do. Traditionally we spend Christmas Eve together – we watch the firefighter parade, get McDonalds for you on the way home, then once you’re in bed we pig out on Chinese food and stay up too late. At Easter we have an egg hunt every year that gets harder and harder, has more and more chocolate, and is more and more likely for Mommy to forget where she hid everything. Every Spring we look at our schedule for summer and make sure we’re free the third weekend of August for one of our biggest traditions.
The Barrie Fair.
This tradition is not only much anticipated throughout the year but comes with an extraordinarily large amount of creative work beforehand. After all, it’s not a fair without copious amounts of art, photos, crafts, vegetables and jars full of rocks and dead bugs. Plus the ribbons and prize money at the end is always a fun bonus. This year you boys worked especially hard on various projects, and while I always say each year we’ll become more organized with it and not be scrambling a few days before, that has yet to become part of the tradition.
This summer we decided to get our family season’s passes to Canada’s Wonderland. While a very difference experience compared to our beloved Barrie Fair, we did wonder if it would change things for you at the fair. If you would think the fair now shone in a duller light now in comparison to the massive theme park that Wonderland has become.
Well, it didn’t.
You played. You played hard. You played hard for almost 12 hours straight and as I’m writing this over a week later, I feel that I can say I have only just recovered. As per our usual tradition I scoured the Internet a few weeks before to find the carnival wristbands on bulk presale. At noon sharp on Friday, we were armed and ready. And for the next 2 1/2 hours — until we made you break for the Education Centre, cow and sheep shows and to eat not-one-bit-nourishing fair food—it went the following pattern:
Son #3: Ferris Wheel, Fun House, Dragon Coaster, Blue Slide, Blue Slide, Blue Slide, Blue Slide, Dragon Coaster, Blue Slide, attempt to sneak on Fury and denied, Blue Slide, buttered up the guy running the kite ride, Kite Ride, Kite Ride, Kite Ride, Kite Ride, Kite Ride, second attempt to sneak on Fury and denied, Blue Slide, Fun House, Dragon Coaster, and finally begrudgingly go on the Carousel with Mommy and Daddy.
Son #2: Ferris Wheel, Fun House, Fury, Fury, Fury, Blue Slide, Fury, Kite Ride, Kite Ride, Kite Ride, Kite Ride, Fury, Fury, Swings, Swings, Kite Ride, attempt to get on the Freak Out and denied, Swings, Kite Ride, Fury, Fury, Fury, Fury, Swings, Swings, Fun House, Dragon Coaster, and second attempt to get on the Freak Out and denied.
Son #1: Ferris Wheel, Fun House, Blue Slide, Fury, Fury, Blue Slide, Fury, Kite Ride, Kite Ride, Fury, Swings, Swings, Fun House, Kite Ride, Freak Out (with Daddy), Swings, Bumper Cars, Kite Ride, Fury, Fury, Bumper Cars, Fury, Fury, Swings, Fun House, Dragon Coaster, and Freak Out (without Daddy).
Then after several more brief breaks, you proceeded to do it all over again until we had to drag you from the fair half asleep.
I think one of the best things about the fair though is that it always seems to be one big reunion every year. From family and friends we see once a week to ones we see once a year; everyone was there. We caught up with people we haven’t seen in a long time, showed off our ribbons to close friends and family members that wanted to see how we did, and pressured our cousins into going on the ‘scary’ rides.
There will be a time when you won’t want to go to the firefighter’s Christmas parade on Christmas Eve, and a time when you’ll be too old for Easter Egg hunts (no I’m never going to hide money, don’t even ask). I don’t know if Canada’s Wonderland will become a tradition for us as there will be some years maybe we do get passes and some we don’t. But I can guarantee we’ll always make space in our calendars every third weekend in August for the Barrie Fair.
After all, it’s tradition.
Love Mommy,
XOX
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