AMUSING MEMORIES, Weekend Assignment

Last summer we were fortunate to be able to visit Disneyland and Magic Mountain while visiting relatives in LA.  The biggest amusement park the family had ever been to up until that point was Elitch Gardens in Denver.  Stepping into the Magic Kingdom was like passing through a doorway into another world.  Even I as an adult couldn't help getting caught up in the fantasy.  And while Magic Mountain wasn't as scenic as Disneyland, the rides were outstanding.  I even got over my fear of roller coasters and found myself rushing ahead of the others to get back into line.

We went to Magic Mountain the day before we left California, and we were already on the edge of exhaustion, but the rides beconed us and we waited in line for what seemed like ages to get on a 3 minute ride.  While nearing the 3 year mark in the cue for the X, my little Rocky got bored and started messing with the landscaping plants.  I chided her but she insisted that it was just a weed.

'Perhaps, but you don't know what kind of weed it is.  For all you know it could be poison ivy'.  I pointed out.

'Is it?' she asked.

'No, but thats beside the point, you don't know what it is so you should leave it alone.'  I replied in my best mommy voice and bystanders smiled with approval in the way I handled the situation.  My pride was short lived though because Rocky plucked a branch of leaves from the plant and scrubbed it against her cheeks!  I couldn't believe the audacity of the child, the total disregard for what I had just said, the disrespect... I snatched the leaves from her hand and warned her that the Park officials could throw her out for destroying their property.  It was NEVER okay to just pluck a plant like that, especially when it was someone else's property.  It was also irresponsible and stupid to rub it against her skin, not knowing what it was!  By the time I was finished with my lecture I had regained the repect from those around us.  My child had defied me, but I was once again a respected Mommy in the Long Roller Coaster Line Community.  Rocky pouted for the next few turns in the line, but forgot about the whole incident by the time we got on the ride.

She would remember the incident vividly when she woke up the next morning and discovered her face covered with rash!  I tried to be sympathetic, I tried to be a caring mother, but I couldn't!  I laughed long and hard every time I saw her blotchy little face.  At one point she was even in tears... not from pain or discomfort, but from embarassment.  All those warnings I had given her... and what does she do?  She deliberately defied me, and this was the result.  I think once her resentment wore off and the rash subsided, Rocky had a new respect for me and my advice.  Of course she had all but forgotten it by the end of the summer.  But thats okay, because I've got pictures!

The scariest ride I have ever ridden on was the X at Magic Mountain.  Now I've always been terrified of roller coasters and only recently over came the fear while at Disneyland a couple days earlier, so I was still very apprehensive.  However, the recent discovery that I was an adrenaline junkie despite my phobias, had me rushing back in line, pushing my own kids out of the way in an affort to get on the ride sooner.  The X started out slow, but after it takes you to the starting point, it flips the carriage upside down and the riders plummet over the drop backwards!  Nothing but sky!  Absolutely terrifying.  In fact it was so terrifying that I had to ride it again just to make sure that I was really scared.  I think the second time around was even more thrilling because of the anticipation factor.  At any rate, the X was both, the scariest and the best ride I have ever been on.  Would I go on it again?  You betcha!

Weekend Assignment #63: Amusing Amusement Park Moments