Life's A Joy Ride, Right?

The one thing I swore I would not, could not do...I did. I told Hubby I wouldn't go to an amusement park. But, he got wise and snatched my M card - to which I thought I owned sole rights. Yep, MANIPULATION. And it worked. If I didn't go to Kennywood, he and the boys wouldn't go either. Those long droopy faces dragging on the floor. I couldn't take the guilt of being an instigator of such melancholy!

"Okay, okay already, but I won't like it. And get your chin off of the floor. Your face might stay like that. There's nothing at an amusement park that I consider fun," I said.

Like they could hear me above their own hoopla and bubba booyas.

So there we were taking advantage of the free parking - uncannily located at the farthermost point of the amusement park. By the time we made our entrance through the gates of fun, my feet were already screaming.

My husband knew the park well. He knew it better than the back of his hand. As a kid, it was on his top THREE list of favorite places to go in Pittsburgh. The others were Mt. Washington via the Inclines and the park at Point State Park. He wanted me to be equally excited about taking the boys to the park. I put on a good face. By the way, I did the inclines also and that's another story.

In the not too distant past I had a little fear of taking elevators, flying on planes and riding roller coasters or any other thrill vehicle. Visiting the theme park landed on the bottom of my "brave things to do" agenda in my mission to get over fear. Hubby had unbrideled excitment about helping me. He planned to introduce me to tame rides like cars and carousels - and gradually work me up to the ultimate amusement.

One of the calmer rides was the Noah's Ark. I knew the story of Noah. He sailed less than smooth waters. But as I recall, he made it off the boat in one piece. I felt optimistic as I embarked onto the ark although it required an elevator ride. Who knew they had elevators back then? Two seconds after the door closed, the elevator malfunctioned. It began shaking, rumbling and making noises like the crank had horribly jammed. I grabbed  my cell phone and annouced I'd call 911. Hubby informed me that the "broken" elevator was merely a part of the ride. I didn't feel amused. Especially after making a ninny of myself in front of the other riders and their children by pounding on the elevator doors and screaming "help, we're trapped in a broken elevator!"

The next "ride" was a little more fun. We hopped into little tubs that yanked us around in circles as the entire platform rotated faster than greased lightning in figure 8's. Other than my neck sporadically jerking long after the ride ended, it was a thrill.

Our final ride of the day was the swings. I loved to swing! At first, they went smooth and slow. Beautiful! Then increasingly the swings rose higher and went faster. It felt exhilarating except the part where I had to swallow puke several times to keep from barfing on the people below.

All in all I had an exciting, fun day! But, it's likely I won't be visiting another theme park until the next flood, at which time I'll probably have to embark on an ark via an elevator.

I suppose it seems like a lame sacrfice, going to a theme park. Especially to thrill seekers. What crazy hurdles have you jumped recently for your family?