The amusement park and bewitched forest

A month ago I took a Tuesday off of work so that the family could go to our local amusement park together.  We decided that P would get the deluxe ride bracelet so he could do the more adventurous rides with C, while I just got a limited ride bracelet since M isn't tall enough to do the bigger rides.  

It's been a long time since I've done carnival type rides, so I was surprised at my level of fear on just our first ride!  As C and I shared a compartment on the ferris wheel, I had to have my eyes clamped shut from the time we were halfway up until just after we crested.  Meanwhile I kept pleading "C, don't rock, please don't rock!"

You know you're getting old when you're down for the count after only the second ride! Thankfully it wasn't me.  P took C on a spinning ride while I took M on the nice, tame merry go round.  After that P couldn't do anything remotely circular in motion.  I know, how lame are we?!

The spider

We managed to find rides that they could do together, or that we could all stomach while P waited for his nausea to subside. However, when C begged to ride on the spider, we were at a loss.  I remember getting sick on this very ride when I was in the eighth grade, so I was certain I wouldn't be able to tolerate it now.  A mother and son offered to let C ride with them, and then the mom bowed out after she secured a partner for her kid.  At some point, another little girl joined up with them in line.  The wait for the spider was quite long, and by the time the threesome disembarked, C and the little girl had become "best friends". The rest of the time in the park, Daria and the girls were inseparable and rode everything together.  It worked out quite well for all of us!  I don't know who started it, but from time to time the three girls would huddle with their hands in the middle (kind of like in sports) and chant "Friends Forever!" They were terribly adorable together and we shared a terrific day.








A few days later the girls and I met up with my dear friend Kelli and her daughter Brooklyn at a park that is something of a bewitched forest - with a nursery rhyme and fairy tale theme. It was a fun girls day out as we left our husbands at home, and her two year old twin boys stayed with her mom. But before I get into our day, I'd like to give you a little background on my friendship with Kelli, since I think it's a pretty cool story.

Kelli and I met while in college. We lived in the same apartment complex my junior year, and one Monday night a group was carpooling to a FHE activity and she asked if she could ride with me since she saw from my license plates that we were from the same home state. We quickly became friends and decided we'd be roommates the next fall. I was familiar with her older sister since we had lived in the same apartment complex the year before, but this year she was back at home. One day her sister was looking through their grandmother's photo album when she saw a picture of me with my family, and she asked her grandma how she came to have a picture of Kelli's next roommate.

It turned out that Kelli's grandfather had been one of the first missionaries to contact my grandparents in Sweden. Our grandparents stayed in touch through the years, and I remember when my grandma would come to visit that she'd sometimes go visit a friend that lived a few hours south, but I was never invited to accompany her or my mother on these trips. At any rate, if it wasn't for Kelli's grandfather, my grandparents likely would not have converted, they would have chosen to remain childless, and they probably would have moved to South America (Brazil I think?) after World War II instead of the US.

Kelli is one of those friends that no matter how much time passes from our last contact, we always just pick up where we left off. I love her dearly, and I'm so glad that our kids are close in age so they can play together too!

The witch's gingerbread house from Hansel & Gretel

After entering the witch's mouth, you climb stairs and then slide down her hair

There was an old lady who lived in a shoe ...

and when she got sick of her kids they slid down the chute.

Panning for gold (or shiny rocks)

Kelli & Brooklyn getting on the log ride

C at the front of the boat

A little wet after the log ride. No, Brooklyn was not a happy camper.

The cast from Cinderella's Comedy Theater

Ye olde village

If we were smart, we would have taken our picture together before the log ride!

Snow cones, the perfect ending!