At the Amusement Park

At about eleven this morning, I decided not another day could pass before I saw my daughter on a merry-go-round. We drove half an hour north to Kiddie Acres, and went on a few rides. The woman who sold us tickets was out of breath, having run from the merry-go-round, where she was also the ticket taker. "We're going to hold the merry-go-round until I get you folks what you need," she said. We bought $17.03 cents worth of tickets, including tax, and jumped on the you-know-what. The circumference of the wheel wasn't all that large, the horses were a little on the thin side, and Annalee decided after a few times around that she would rather be in Daddy's arms than on a piece of machinery moving up and down in a tight circle.

The big hit of the day was the boat ride, which Annalee didn't appear to love on her first try, buckled in as she was and staring at the world from behind the wheel of her own boat with a faintly concerned look on her face. But it was the ride she wanted to repeat more than any other; we gave a ticket for it two or three times and got one ride for free. The pony rides were attractive as a concept but not in fact, we learned when we tried to sit baby on one. The choo-choo was gasoline-driven, unlike the diesel at the park, but it had its charms, in particular the thick patches of bluebonnets through which we passed.