Very Amused at the Park

In contrast to this post last July, this year's trip to the amusement park was completely amusing to my spunky, two-and-a-half year old.  No fear whatsoever in this child... not of heights, not of speed, not of spinning in circles uncontrollably.  Whatever she was able to ride, she rode.  

Punky's godfather came with us to the park this year.  We got there around noon and the first thing to catch her eye was the gigantic ferris wheel.  And she insisted we ride it.  Now, let me just say that I am an amusement park junkie.  I love roller coasters, and spinning in circles, and flipping upside down.  There are only two things I refuse to ride, and the ferris wheel is one of them.  The other is the sky ride.  I don't mind heights as long as I go up and back down quickly.  Sitting on a slow moving sky ride and getting stopped on the top of the ferris wheel both have the power to send me into a full-fledged panic attack. 

All smiles on the ferris wheel!

I couldn't let my little girl think her mommy is a big chicken, and I didn't want her to feel like she should be afraid of the rides at the park, so against my better judgement we boarded the ferris wheel.  And wouldn't you know we got stuck on the top right away.  She was smiling, and giggling, and pointing out all of the things she was able to see from up there; I held my breath and watched my knuckles turn white as I clung to the bar for dear life.  Her godfather didn't enjoy it any more than I did but we both managed to maintain our composure and put on a happy face for Punky's sake.  It was the longest ride in history.

Riding a giraffe!

From there, we headed into kiddie land with ride after ride of cars, boats, trucks, planes, and animals going 'round and 'round.  That's also where she discovered the bouncy house, and the love affair began.  Although we managed to cover most of the park, time after time we found ourselves back at the beloved bouncy house.  By the end of the day, she was on a first name basis with the bouncy house attendant.  If there weren't a lot of kids in line, she'd let Punky stay in turn after turn.  Jumping is one of her favorite activities, after all. 

Practicing her driving!

We rode the train, of course, and I took her on some classics like the Whip and the Scrambler.  Her godfather took her on the cars she could "drive" and on the carousel.   She rode the kiddie whip and kiddie ferris wheel all by herself.  She went from one ride to the next with no signs of motion sickness whatsoever.  I was worried about that because her dad can't tolerate rides at all.  It looks like she got my genes in that department, thankfully.

Her eyes lit up when she saw the big roller coaster.  She wanted to ride it in the worst way, and she whined and pouted when we told her she was too small to ride.  She is still even half an inch too small to ride the kiddie coaster, let alone a big one.  By the time she's tall enough to ride it two years from now, she'll probably be scared of it.  

It was going for eleven by the time we left the park.  We made a day of it, that's for sure.  Punky was asleep in the car before we even hit the highway.  She really had a great time.  We may go again before bidding farewell to summer for another year.  It's disgusting how quickly these warm months fly by...