My dad was a great dad. He used to take me to a lot of things for the five years I spent with him, but he wasn’t crazy about amusement parks, fairs, or carnivals. He claimed they were overpriced, and he wasn’t crazy about the rides and lines. He took me a couple times, but we never stayed long.
I took Ella to one of these when she was younger, and I had enjoyed it immensely. I loved watching Ella react to everything, but I also took joy in embracing the atmosphere as well. There was something magical to behold when the sun started to go down, and the lights on the rides and booths turned on.
As we wandered around the boardwalk, I was determined that when we got the chance, we would bring the kids to one of something like this. I imagined Alex and Micah had never been to something like this, and I knew Ella would love it.
“There’s another frozen custard stand,” I cried excitedly as I pointed towards another vendor. “Maybe they’ll have strawberry there.”
“Let me win you a stuffed animal first,” Jaxson insisted as he wandered towards one of the game booths.
“No way!” Troy cried out. “We can’t let you get our girl a prize first.”
“But it was my idea first!” Jaxson protested good-naturedly.
I laughed. “How about I win myself a toy?” I pointed to a booth that had the water guns. The target was a pirate ship. Hit the target, and the ship would rise to the top to ring a bell.
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Remy gave me a confident grin as he grabbed my hand to lead me to the booth.
“Why can’t we all try to win you something?” Jaxson asserted as he followed along behind us.
“Later,” I called back. “I want to play.”
We walked up to the man operating the booth. “You guys going to win this pretty little lady a unicorn?” he asked as he smiled at us.
I refrained from rolling my eyes. “This pretty little lady will win her own unicorn,” I said as I found a seat and went to grab my wallet.
“I’ll pay for her and myself,” Jace stated as he handed the guy some money with a laugh.
“What about me?” Jaxson cried out in mock a frontal.
“You can pay for your own self.” Jace laughed as he took the seat next to me.
“Geesh, what a great big brother you are,” Jaxson grumbled while he handed the man some money and took the seat on the other side of me.
The rest of the guys paid to play and took their seats.
“Ready to eat my dust?” I jokingly called to them.
“Dream on, Misty,” Troy called down to me.
“Ready?” the guys asked us, and we all nodded. The bell went off, and it took me a few seconds to get my water stream to hit the target.
I looked up at the pirate ships and groaned, realizing mine wasn’t at the top. It wasn’t on the bottom, but it wasn’t on the top either.
Troy whoope
d with joy as the light above his ship flashed, and a loud ringing noise filled our ears.
“What’ll it be, Misty?” Troy asked.
I smiled grudgingly. I wanted to win it myself, but it was sweet that they desired to win me stuff. I pointed towards the large unicorn, fully intending to give it to Ella for a souvenir.
“It has to be a small or medium prize. You’ll have to play another game and win to get the big ones,” the man stated with a smarmy grin.
“Let’s do it again boys,” Troy stated as he handed the man enough cash to cover us all.
“Let you win?” Remy asked with a smirk.
“You know it,” Troy answered with a pointed grin at the man.