Mad carnival skills

Every once in a while I will throw in the acronym "LOP" into conversation, and some of you have absolutely no idea to what I am referring. But I know to others of you reading this post, the mention of LOP brings back sweet summer memories of riding bikes to the main beach, swim team, and of course, the big 4th of July rager. LOP is how the locals affectionately refer to Lake of the Pines, the community where I grew up and my parents still live. I'll have to do another post some other time about all my memories of LOP, including the time when someone switched the "I" and "E" on the gigantic sign at the entrance of the lake...

So more about the annual 4th of July festivities... LOP is a a very patriotic place. Every year there is a huge event, including a fly-by (maybe an old plane and possibly a commercial airliner flying over on the way to SMF), golf-cart parade, craft fair, countless old ladies in "I heart the USA" bedazzled t-shirts and vests, snow cones, water-ski demonstrations, and of course, fireworks. Another big highlight is the carnival. We went last year and Scott could hardly wait to return this year for the games! And let me tell you, if there were such a thing as a career in playing carnival games, Scott could be very successful. I think he won just about every game he played, including that one where you have to roll a bowling ball hard enough so it goes over the first hump, but not too hard that it rolls back over it. I've never been able to do that one, and Scott was 2 for 2!