Alas, no Rock-o-Plane tonight.

Well, the weather held out for our parish picnic tonight, which was great, but unfortunately M's horrible allergies sidelined him for the Rock-o-Plane. He just didn't feel up to it. Our nephew Joey had a blast, though, riding just about everything but the Rock-o-Plane. Your time will come, young Jedi.

I got some decent shots...am loving the shutter priority on the D100. Because of that, I was able to shoot hand-held at 1/60 of a second, no flash, in rapidly fading light. I'm not a big fan of flash. Makes everyone look like Gloria Swanson channeling Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. But I digress. Here are some of the better images, along with certain observations I had about the rides.

Before he took off for the rides, Joey stopped for a quick pose with his cousin, Doodlebug.

Here's Joe, piloting his spaceship with Anonymous Child #1. The spaceships were pretty cool, but notice the guns on the front, which totally looked like an after-market add-on. It's the carnival equivalent of putting 18" rims on an '89 Buick. This ride went around in circles, so essentially you shoot at the children in front of you, who shoot at the children in front of them, and so on. No one really wins, but everyone goes home with some shrapnel.

After the spaceships, Joe got on the what I like to call the Children's Monster Truck Rally. The blonde in the back is Anonymous Child #2 (the Carnival Amusement Specialists are big on packin' 'em in). She was cute as a button, not that you can tell from this image since she's intently steering left even though the ride has not yet begun. True to St. Louis form, though, every child in these cars laid on his or her horn while waiting for traffic to move. We train our younguns here real early. Hey, is it just me, or does that truck have not one, not two, not three, but FOUR steering wheels?

Great shot of Grammy and Joe on the Ferris, and ya'all can thank me with cash for cropping the 500 lb. Ferris Rotator Specialist from this image.

Zoe's favorite ride was this, her stroller, because it was the only ride she was tall enough to be allowed on due to those pesky local, state and federal safety regulations. And since we're not Britney Spears and K-Fed, we actually follow safety recommendations for our baby. Anyway, Beans and I had a great discussion about easy ways to bling out Zoe's ride (spinners on the wheels, tinting the plastic "window" on the canopy), but her Daddy nixed 'em. Party pooper. I think if his allergies weren't so bad, we'd have had a chance.

I have a ton more shots, but it's late and I'm tired and I really need to go to bed now to avoid another day of being Mrs. Crankypants. Thanks to everyone at church for putting on one helluva carnival, and to our families for sharing this special evening with us. I might post more shots from this evening tomorrow. Then again, I might not. It's my blog and I can do what I want. So there. Nyah. G'night!