(from 2/15/07) Storm Trooper or Bowling Pin?

If you were walking down a dark alley late one night, who would you rather encounter: A storm trooper or a a 10' tall inflatable bowling pin shuffling around with a big, creepy shit-eating grin on it's face?

Ok, well if not late at night in a dark alley, how about around 11am during an indoor kids carnival?

That's the dilemma Ian faced, and he instantly chose the......storm trooper? There were characters roaming around this festival for kids and he was amazed at the storm trooper as well as a sand warrior guy (according to wikipedia a Tusken Raider) and another character. He kept calling them "divers" and was insistant on keep going up to them and shaking their hands and giving them hi-fives.

The big bowling pin, on the the other hand, made him shit his buzz lightyear pull-up.
He was on a ride and was having a blast....it ended, so he was sitting there waiting for the carni-folk to let him out and his demeanor totally changed...all of a sudden he gets a blank look on his face and he looks terrified. At first we had no idea what he was looking at. The 300lb bearded lady took him off the ride and he power-walked over to us (not taking his eyes off the source of terror) and asked to be picked up.

The first thing he said is "I don't like the bowling pin". I turn around and see the sight that I described up top there. And in case you have amnesia, it was a 10' tall inflatable bowling pin shuffling towards us with a creepy shit-eating grin plastered on the front. It was in a convention center, so the sound of the feet shuffling echoed throughout the place. Not to mention that the arms of the costume were significantly longer than the arms of the guy who was inside the costume so they just kind of flopped and shimmied about.

At one point Ian was waiting to go on the pony ride and he spots this usually-harmless-but-now-nightmare-inducing object halfway across the place making a slow, exagerated, jiggly beeline right for us. Ian virtually lept into Allison's arms and she re-assured him that he wasn't coming over here. Hehheh WRONG. Poor Ian couldn't take his eyes off this thing the entire time he was riding the pony. I wonder if Ian was the first kid to drop a deuce on that pony's back that day?

I am totally kicking myself for not getting a picture of this thing. I thought about it, and even had my nifty little cell phone aimed at it ready to snap, but it turned around and the front of it was half the fun...I wanted the picture soley for this blog to show you guys what kind of things people dream up thinking they're "fun" for kids. I already tried looking for a picture on the net, but couldn't find one quickly. I'll spend more time looking for it later and will post a picture if I find one.

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Other than that, I don't think there's a whole lot to report. We were inside all day yesterday so everyone is stir crazy. We're going to try a new indoor play area in North Haven today. It's not close, but it's something different. We'll let ya know how it goes.
Until then, just say no to creepy inflatable objects (sheep not included).