World Travellers

Once again, I have to apologize for not posting often enough. We went to see my parents, then I had JBoss un-training (a long story), then last week we went to my in-laws for Spring Break. I probably would have had ample time to post then, except that my in-laws do not have wifi (yet, although I hear my mother-in-law is pushing for it.)

Anyway, the kids are doing fine. Gwen got strep throat right before we left town (I think this is the third time she has come down with strep the day before a trip to see the in-laws -- not sure if there is some kind of connection there, or at least statistical probability.) Xavier is recovering from an allergic reaction to Banana Boat sunblock. But, otherwise, all is well here.

The kids had a good time at my in-laws. We went to Busch Gardens while we were there, and we made the mistake of taking the kids on the Elmo's Spire ride straight off. For the most part, I think the Sesame Street rides were a little "mature" for the preschool crowd one would typically associate with Sesame Street, but that's just my take on it. For example, take the Elmo's Spire ride: it is a lot like the Six Flags ride that gained notoriety a few years ago when a teenaged girl lost her feet on the ride (not that I think that is likely to happen on the Elmo's Spire ride -- I think it was a freak accident in the Six Flags case -- but just to give you an idea of what the ride was like.) Of course, just the fact that the ride is topped with a giant Elmo head made it too scary for me.

Anyway, I admit, I thought the ride looked a little advanced for my kids, and I guess I was right, because afterwards, it looked like Xav's first ride was going to be his last -- screaming, tears, the whole nine yards -- but we did manage to coax him onto a few other rides. Gwen, on the other hand, wanted to ride a bunch of other rides I would have guessed were too scary (Grover's Alpine Express -- a rollar coaster -- and the Battering Ram, among others), but she did draw the line at the Big Bad Wolf. While I was waiting in line with her for a Swing ride, though, she suddenly turned around, put her hand on my stomach, and said, "Now, I'm going on this ride all by myself, okay?" Sigh, my little girl is growing up. All the same, after all the scary rides, only Elmo's Spire was rated "horrible" by her standards.

After a long day of walking, walking, and more walking, we stopped for dinner. I really wanted to find someplace where we could eat indoors because I was freezing my tail off (it was pretty nippy that evening), but I was out-voted and we settled down to eat at a picnic table in the French "subdivision". After a few minutes of not moving, others at the table began to share my discomfort, and Xavier remarked. "It sure is cold out here, but it's kind of neat eating outside like this -- kind of like the way people ate in the old days!"

I sure felt old by the end of the day, but the kids are already making plans for their next trip to Busch Gardens. Ah, to be young and foolish ... and immune to the cold.