Musement park

Teeth were chattering.

They didn’t chatter because the rides were thrillingly scary, but because it was a cold, rainy night. The kids’ school sponsored a family night at a local amusement park. When you buy tickets in advance with no hope of refund, you go despite the sprinkles.

Happiness doesn’t dwell only at 72 degrees.

Archie rode on his first amusement park ride. It was a little cart and horse which travelled in a circle at the blistering speed of .15 miles per hour. Tommy was his co-pilot.

Ryley on the Round-Up, which makes me dizzy to think about. He would have spent all night riding that one ride. He’s easy to please.

Tommy and Joel on the Zoom, which features a 140-foot freefall drop. Note Tommy’s inexcusably rude mocking of the bock-bock yellow cowardly scaredy-cat baby chickens who stayed sanely on the ground. My husband and Ryley rode, too. It was tense to be on the ground, watching 4 of my guys plummet. They loved it. Crazies.

Beatrix watching the Zoom, right before it released daddy and 3 brothers to the whims of fate and the skill of maintenance workers.

Joel decided to ride something a little more tame. But is a large pink jackrabbit truly tame?

We visited this same park late last summer on a seasonable night. No coats, hats or hands jammed in pockets. I took these two photos last night, remembering last summer. Some things never change:

Because I couldn’t ride anything, I spent the evening with Archie. I kept his hands warm and tried to stuff a thick blanket around his body and a hat on his head, but he fought every one of my warming efforts. He seemed to be warmed by the lights and the motion. It was enough to keep him happy.