Navy Pier

What a ride! We visited Navy Pier Tuesday. AJ looked at me with a sort of confused excitement on his face, asking, "It's a carnival?"

There weren't a lot of rides, but what was there had the perfect level of thrill-factor for these elementary-aged dare devils. I forget what this one was called, but it became Sydney's favorite. She dubbed it the "up and down" ride because it lifted the kids up in the air, then dropped them down.

Of course, we couldn't skip the legendary ferris wheel. Boys in one car, girls in the other as we slowly rotated upward until we were 150 feet in the air.

The view would have been magnificent, had it not been foggy by the time we reached the top. Had this been Duluth, the fog would have been an indication of cooler by the lake conditions. But no such luck here. It was hot and muggy no matter where we were.

Here's another perspective showing just how big the ferris wheel is. Pay attention to the swing ride in the fore ground. It was AJ's favorite.

AJ's gone on this kind of ride numerous other times. This one went the fastest by far! He had kind of a funny look on his face while the ride was in motion, but once he landed he was totally cool!

Poor Sydney... or maybe not. The swing ride represented almost a rite of passage for her. Last year, at Marine Land, all the other kids had been able to ride a relatively tame version of the swing. But Sydney had been too short. There'd been lots of tears as we'd told her that the next year she'd probably be big enough.

So this year was her big chance, and suddenly, the sight of the fast moving swings left her more than a bit terrified.

The ride included a few double-wide seats, so we suggested several combinations: Daddy could sit next to Sydney. No. Ellie could sit next to Sydney. Still, no. Finally I offered to ride with her. At last, a nod. With Mommy by her side, she felt brave. And then we reached the gate. And were denied. You have to be 42 inches tall to ride.

I suspect Sydney wasn't entirely disappointed. So instead, we found a ride she could do on her own.

Boy, was she proud. She strutted up to the carousel and made a big deal of picking which horse would be just right. She then made sure to wave at me each time she came round. (Except for the time she discovered a mirror on the interior and was so busy waving at herself that she missed me.)

The other attraction they simply couldn't pass up was mini-golf.

It quickly became apparent that AJ and Ben share a competitive spirit, battling for bragging rights as they moved from hole to hole. Sadly for Sydney, she seems to have inherited her mother's talent (or lack there of) for golf.

Still, it was a good experience for Sydney to watch and try to mimic her cousins and brother. Three years ago, she fine-tuned her ability to walk while trying to keep up with the rest of the Kazel kids. During this year's vacation, she's grown far more comfortable in the swimming pool and has been far more likely to walk (instead of asking to ride in the stroller.) Normally I'd say it's positive peer pressure, but on this day... get ready for the pun... it was positive pier pressure.