The firemen and their families were still setting things up as we stood there for a few minutes and waited. Michelle's mom and sisters were up enjoying dinner at the carnival with us. We all shared a plate full of sugary funnel cake while the fish each got pulled from a big central tank and dropped into individual bowls for the game.

We soon tired of watching them set everything up and, with powdered sugar dusted down the fronts of our shirts, we wandered off down the sidewalk, figuring we'd give them a few moments to get everything set before we got back.

At the end of the row, the local Phoenixville fire company had their own booth set up. The main attraction of their booth was, of course, the $2 fire engine rides. All evening long, the fire truck whirls around town with the siren blaring and the lights flashing. On board, kids are stuffed shoulder to shoulder with a few local firemen, everyone grinning ear to ear.

None of us were exactly interested in riding along with the firemen. With little Tyler along, Michelle's mom and sister soon had him in a junior firefighter hat and were taking his picture from half a dozen different directions. With the flash exploding in his face, a fireman's hat on his head and everyone jostling him into position, I'm sure the experience was similar to the truck ride for him.

Having spent a few minutes down the way entertaining ourselves at Tyler's adorable expense, we headed back up the row towards the goldfish toss. The firemen had just finished setting up and we were just in time to get first shot at the fish.

Without hesitation, Michelle stepped up to the booth, paid her dollar, and threw the first ball right into a goldfish bowl. All along the wooden railing lining the booth, a collective sigh ran through the group of young kids who had been missing every shot.

As the wife of one of the firemen bagged up Bubba, our new goldfish, Michelle finished off the rest of her ping pong balls, then bought another cup and finished them off too. Call it luck if you will. Call it fate if you must. But it certainly was an odd coincidence to sink the first ball for Bubba then miss for the next fifty shots.

Tonight, Bubba is happily swimming circles in a custom tank in our living room. From the looks of things, he couldn't be happier.