Lakeside

 The kids all got unlimited ride passes to Lakeside for completing the library summer reading program, so we went on Tuesday. This crazy ride (the one above) is one of those free-fall rides where you ride up a big shaft and then they drop you and you scream for like half a second before your lungs and vocal cords cease to function. Ben hurt his leg somehow. Maybe somebody from Lakeside will read this and send him a check for lots of money. Maybe.

 This ride is called the Round Up. It's one of those rides that spins you until your back is glued against the green pad and you can't move except your cheeks go flapping in the wind and you worry about drooling. The kid who was running the ride meant business. He said there were 2 rules: no leaning forward and no lifting your feet off the floor. And he also said that if anybody broke even just 1 of the 2 rules he would stop the ride and everyone would have to get off. And he was serious because somebody on our ride lifted one of his feet up, and the kid stopped the ride and everyone had to get off. By the end of the evening, that kid had all the visitors to the park trained, tipping hats, and saying, "Yes, Sir!" He's just the kind of guy we need running our public schools... I also like the above photo because it shows us what Ben would look like if he had a moustache. I think a gun holster would add to the look.

This ride is called the Matterhorn. It was nice.