Today was the annual company picnic. I am fortunate that I work for a company that still does a company picnic. With over 3,000 employees this is a very big deal. I’ve been with the company for ten years and have gone to all but one of the picnics in that time. This was Eva’s 4th picnic and Andrew’s 1st. I think that they both had a really fun time. Eva’s highlights were the temporary tattoos, the pirate ship and mining for gems. For Andrew it was the Extreme Raptor show. He stood on my lap and was mesmerized by the birds flying around the tent. His head followed them all over the place. I thought that Eva would love it too but she had her nose in the Smokey The Bear comic book (I take full responsibility for her enjoying comics)

We got to the picnic and picked up the gifts (each kid gets a gift, stuffed animal or things for mom and dad) We got a stuffed bunny and an LL Bean duffle bag. Some real good gifts this year. I took the gifts to the car while Eva got some temporary Tattoos. When I got back she had a couple of fun tattoos on her arms. She wanted to go on the pirate ship right after that so we got into that line. We were in the line a while but it was still fun. The kids get clothes, hats, swords, pistols and more to dress up with. The people volunteering at this station were awesome too, there was a woman who had a custom tri-corner hat with a leather dragon feature, her friend custom made it for her, it was amazing.

Eva has a funny love/hate relationship with pirates. She enjoys dressing up like one but doesn’t like other pirates, they scare her. So, she did not want to talk to any pirates but she was excited to get on the pirate ship for the cruise. The little cruise was very fun and Eva even got to ring the bell on the ship. She enjoyed it and so did we.

After the pirate ship ride we got some Fried Dough to start off some eating for the day. Eva liked it very much today and in year’s past she stayed away from it. We brought her around the games and she played on the fun house and we rode some rides together including the Carousel. This was Andrew’s first ride on the Carousel and he LOVED it. He was holding the bar and squealing like crazy.

After the carousel it was time for us to get down to the business of lunch. The choices for lunch are incredible at the picnic but I’m here for the lobster. I had lobster tickets for the whole family. Allison eats one claw. Eva doesn’t eat it and so I got three lobsters and I tore through them like an animal. I ate everything except for the middle part. I got every leg and all the tails, 5 claws and three tails, it was glorious!

MY way of eating lobster is to crack them all and remove the meat place it into the butter and let it all sit there until I am done. I ate the legs along the way and then ate all the meat from two lobsters before I worked on my third. I eat lobster once a year and this is it for me. I could have gotten some more to take home but I never end up doing it. I’ve wanted to make some Bacon Lobster Omelettes the day after the picnic but I always forget to bring home the lobsters. Maybe I’ll get some lobsters from the supermarket and cook them up, the prices are crazy low these days.

After the carnage of lunch we did a few of the more crafty things at the picnic like getting Eva’s photo taken to be put onto a dancing flower that is solar powered. She also panned for gold and other gems. Then we headed toward the petting zoo and the Extreme Raptor show. Andrew loved this show. He stood on my lap and couldn’t take his eyes off all the beautiful birds. As the birds flew around the tent he followed them all over. His attention was so focused. Eva on the other hand read a Smokey the Bear comic book. I would have thought that she’d be all over the bird show. She was only mildly interested.

She did get to touch a gator though.

Right before the raptor show I went and got ice cream for Eva and I and Italian Ice for Allison. I think we certainly had our fill of fun carnival food for the day. For the next few years this is going to be one of Eva’s summer highlights and then Andrew’s. I had a fun time and I think the whole family did, too. Until next year.