Big girl status

There's nothing like a lot of snow and hockey to put me way behind in sharing some of our adventures. Think back a week and a half... As part of the trip to the Cities, we visited the Nickelodeon Theme Park at the Mall of America.

And even though the trip was about celebrating AJ's birthday, it was Sydney who marked a key milestone. She is now big enough to ride the swings.

You have no idea what a big deal this is. When we visited Marine Land with her cousins Ellie and Ben, she was the only one who wasn't big enough to ride. Same story at Navy Pier last summer, and at the State Fair Midway.

She's always had to sit out and go find a different ride with Mommy, a baby ride like a merry-go-round because she wasn't big enough.

But no more!

Of course, that doesn't mean she's too big for merry-go-rounds.

Especially when my friend Geralyn and her kids joined us. We let Sydney and Lily pick their rides, helped them into the seat, and then we stepped back and let them ride without us by their side. Wow, were they feeling grown up!

I think this is the only shot of all the kids together. And of course AJ has to make a funny face. He wanted to make it clear he wasn't the one to pick Diego's bus ride. Diego is SOOOO for preschoolers.

Bumper cars were a bit more exciting for him, until he tried to make the car move. Eventually he got it, but he definitely was bumped more than he bumped others.

This might have been Sydney's first time as Daddy's co-pilot. I can't recall. But I'm pretty sure she'll want to do it again.

And here we are up, up in the air on the ride that I've never understood the popularity of: a Ferris wheel. You spend forever waiting to load all the people on, a couple cars at a time, and then you go up and around a few times and then you spend forever waiting to get off.

Based on her expression, Lily obviously shares my love of this ride.
Or maybe she was just tired of me taking pictures.

I freely admit that as I get older, the thrill of roller coasters is becoming lost to me. But if I ever reach the stage of looking forward to a Ferris wheel... oh dear. I guess I will have to admit I've gotten old.

AJ, meanwhile, might not be quite old enough for roller coasters. He came back after riding on one with Jeff and Joe, and proclaimed he almost wet his pants. But he didn't! And maybe he liked the roller coaster a little. And that's all that matters.