Ahhhh, summer fun. This last Wednesday, Keith and I decided that Evelynn and Caelan were old enough to go to Magic Springs and its water park (the name escapes me at the moment... something like Crystal Falls?) The girls were ecstatic. Pools of water, slides, and kid pools delighted them for hours. We took them down the 'lazy river' on a tube. Apparently I was the only one who preferred to stay on the tube. Once we found the kid's pool, complete with three slides, we spent countless minutes there. Keith at the top, making sure they went down all right and me at the bottom to catch.
I soon found that Evelynn did not want me to help her. This was a new development in her four-year-old independence. I was slightly nervous, water and swimming are great but can quickly go wrong. She would quickly walk up the steps, choose which slide she wanted, easily slide down it and bounce back up out of the water to repeat it all. No problem. Then she began swimming "under water," her face in the water and paddling. This was huge. She has never liked her face or head to be in the water, but she was so proud and excited to do it this time. My Evelynn didn't really need me.
There wasn't much time to think about this as I saw Caelan barreling down the slide. Her tiny, feather-weight body tossed by the water. If I didn't catch her as she hit the water, the force of the water would shove her under and keep her there. I was definitely needed here. After her first run, I thought she would be done. Maybe a little too much? Uh, not so much. This is Caelan. Let's do it again and again and again-- The water park was perfect for my little fish in training.
Then on to the rides. There were only a few rides that Caelan could ride. Most of the rides required a minimum of 36 inches in height. Her 34 inches not quite cutting it. The rides we did go on required Keith and me to ride with the girls. That was more fun any way-- or so I thought. One ride we went on spun around and the individual cars would spin as well according to how much the people in the car wanted it to go. I used to like these rides back in the day. They somewhat resembled the Tilt-a-Whirl or the Scrambler for those of you who remember Fun Land. Evelynn rode with Keith and Caelan rode with me. Keith and Evelynn started spinning their car before the ride started. I was thankful I was not in with them! Caelan, watching their fun, decided she wanted to spin, too. I started it, thinking we wouldn't spin too fast. I have no idea how she did it, but Caelan got that car spinning so fast, I thought I was going to be sick. She was laughing and thrilled. I was less than happy and green. The ride stopped. Keith and Evelynn quickly got off, Caelan even beat me out of our car. I had to take a few moments. So my two and a half year old is a thrill seeker.
We went on to other rides. Evelynn riding a couple more than Caelan because of height. One of these was a runaway mine train. It was small, jerky and Evelynn loved it. She tells everyone that she rode on a roller coaster. Caelan was crushed that she was too small to ride. I foresee many roller coasters and theme parks in our future. I just don't know if I will be the one to ride with them.
