August 18, 2007

The Injured Reserve and the Amusement Park

You must first know the cast of characters:

BBM: Recovering from whiplash/motion sickness sufferer
Mom-Mom: Recovering from knee surgery (torn mensicus-two weeks post surgery)/motion sickness sufferer
Pop-Pop: Craniotomy
Big I: Roller Coaster Queen
Lil C: Agreeable toddler

My parents, the girls and I went to an old-fashioned amusement park on Friday. We were an unlikely crew for amusement park material. But my grandparents had a ton of free ride tickets and it was a nice day, so we went. Mr. BBM (aka Roller Coaster King) couldn’t take the day off to come with us because he is currently up to his eyeballs in work and also preparing for a trip.

Big I spent much of the almost two hour drive talking about roller coasters as my parents and I looked at each other questioningly. Who was going to step up? Who was going to "take one for the team" when it came to riding the rough rides?

My Dad took the first shift. Those airplanes may look nice and easy but the turns were fast and wicked for a recovering whiplash gal. I also saw no way that my Mom was going to be able to climb up into those things. So my Dad spent much of the ride stabilizing Lil C’s head the way a lifeguard would after a diving accident.

That was followed by the pirate ship. You know, the one where you swing back and forth endlessly and your stomach starts to feel really sick and. . . you get the idea. My Mom took her turn, because anyone who has previously barfed after that ride (yours truly) gets a pass.

My Dad then took another turn and went with Big I on a wooden roller coaster. It was the smaller of the two and I said there was no way I was going to be able to handle the shaking and the quick turns. My Dad got off the ride with a major headache. My Mom was nauseous. I was realizing it was my turn to step up. . . so we headed off to kiddie land.

Big I and Lil C rode in this fire truck while I balanced myself on the rapidly spinning platform in case Lil C decided to abandon ship. When we were finished spinning, none of the adults were feeling great. Amusement parks were definitely made for kids.

Even so, I agreed to take the girls on the rockets. They looked smooth enough. Meanwhile, the thing flew at warp speed and Lil C and I were plastered to the side of the rocket, holding on for dear life! When it was all over, I was about finished with rides and Lil C had adopted a new phrase, "anoder ride peease."

She repeated that right up until she fell asleep with true little diva style. So, my parents and I took turns babysitting the stroller while we let Big I choose rides and ~~victims~~ riding partners. My Mom and I were chosen first to go on a lovely log flume ride. Big I and I took the front and we fared pretty well. My Mom didn’t. She got hit with a geyser pretty good and took a decent splash at the end too. She said she was going into ride retirement for a bit, mostly to let her butt dry off.

So, my Dad took his turn with Big I. The engineer in him figured out the exact weight distribution so as not to get drenched. He could have given my Mom a few words of advice in that area.

Big I then saw the Tilt-a-Whirl or as I like to call it the Barf-while-Twirling. That ride makes me super sick. My Dad said the spinning would be bad for his head, so my Mom got nominated. During the first rotation, she looked pretty happy. My Dad said, "Look, she doesn’t look that bad." I laughed and said, "Give her one more trip around." Sure enough, the next time my Mom came into view she was looking a bit under the weather. The ride went for an eternity, and she staggered off feeling terrible. It could only mean one thing. . .

It was definitely Pop-Pop’s turn. My Dad took the girls on the Merry-Go-Round and they had an absolute blast.

Then they had some close encounters with some bears since we all needed the spinning to stop for a bit.

Lil C insisted on getting up close and personal. We’ve officially entered the affectionate stage of our toddler program.

We then rode the train with the tiniest little heiney seats I’ve ever seen. Lil C could not believe we were on a CHOO-CHOO TRAIN! She kept yelling it over and over again, like "Hey world, look at me! I am on a CHOO-CHOO TRAIN!".

Then we hit the highlight of the entire day. BALLS!!!! Now everyone loves a good ball pit, but when the ball pit is practically the size of a pool, it enters a whole new level of fun! The first time the girls went in, Lil C was tentative. She just sort of stood there in the balls and would pick one up every once in a while and proclaim "RED ONE" or "BLUE ONE". She mostly just stood there looking incredibly dazed but happy, and as if she had no clue what to do.

During the second round of ball pit time, Lil C got a little more into it. "Ready, SET, GO!" she yelled as she jumped in full force, and almost sent me flying in with her. She only spent a couple minutes showing me the BALLS!!!! before she decided it was time to "swim."

Big I did the back float. . .

. . . while Lil C did the freestyle. This also marks our first almost-temper-tantrum. When her time was up she made like a jellyfish, went completely limp, and then tried to run away from me in the pit. But in true Lil C fashion, she pulled it together when I mentioned "popcorn."

So "Whiplash Woman", "Meniscus Lady" and "Craniotomy Man" made it through the day without suffering any significant injuries (O.k. well the wallets don’t count).

The End.