Family - What I did over spring break

It was March 14th, 2010 and my wife and I had a surprise planned for our daughter. We had found it kind of hard finding things to do during spring break. It seemed like every option was either a movie where you can’t talk to one another or an arcade where you feed quarters for entertainment. Finally after a bit of searching, we found it.. Family fun like my kid has never had.

I can’t count the number of times we have driven past a church carnival and my kid has almost clawed the window wanting to go. The sight of all those kid-sized rides, the lights and the smell of popcorn was enough to drive her crazy. When we saw the pictures of the attractions at Sandy Lake, we knew we had to take her.

We didn’t tell her anything about our destination or even that we were doing something special when we headed out. As we turned onto Sandy Lake road, we started passing by some of the rides and she immediately perked up and said “oh dad! That looks like fun.” I knew we made the right decision. I put on my blinker to pull in and the squeals began.

The lady that took our money asked if we had been there before. When we answered no, she actually got excited. She eagerly explained that the place worked on the ticket system, where we could buy them and that you can park anywhere you want all over the park (within reason of course) and we were off.

As we rounded the first corner, we were hooked. The entire place dripped with comfort (for lack of a better word). The feeling we got as we pulled up is hard to explain but the closest I could get would be if my parents owned amusement park rides and just set them up for the day at a city park for us to play with. We saw the pony rides, carnival roller coasters, picnickers, waving kids with hot dogs and cars parked right up behind the rides. I took a moment wondering to myself if this is what it was like when my parents used to go to county fairs.

We pulled around back of the bumper cars and barely got the car parked before my daughter’s door exploded open and she started happy dancing.

Ponies:

With my key still only half way in my pocket, I was being pulled towards the ponies while trying to explain two things. 1. She would probably be too tall for the ponies and 2. We needed to eat real quick first. Our compromise was that we would check her height before eating and do ponies immediately after if she was below the max.

Uh oh.. First problem.. Thanks to her two 6 foot tall parent’s, my kid was a bit over the max height.. She was a tiny bit disappointed but with the lure of the other rides she quickly recovered and we went to get food. While we were eating, a very polite gentleman in a Sandy Lake shirt introduced himself and told us he saw us trying out the pony rides and he had good news for us. The man turned out to be the owner who told us he had just purchased a bigger pony for just such an occasion and asked if my kid would like to be the first person to ever ride him. I could actually FEEL my daughter’s every atom jump up an excitement level so the decision was pretty much already made :-).

When we got done eating and arrived at the corral, we found the owner and an employee hitching up “elmo” the super-pony. He recognized us, took our tickets and helped my kid up on the horse.

We weren’t worried about the pony being so new. You could tell all of the horses had wonderful dispositions and they are all connected together anyway. Still though, during that first ride the owner’s hand never left the horses bridle and he never left her side which was a fact I appreciated and respected.

pic from her second (or was it third) ride:

The dragon:
My daughter almost floated down to the ground after the pony ride but it only took the few seconds while we thanked the owner for her to begin yanking me towards what we called ‘the dragon’ roller coaster. This would be my kid’s first coaster experience and I was so happy she was tearing towards it and would be riding it by herself.

On this occasion, the first of an eventual eight rides on the dragon, she chose to sit near the middle. Very sensible for her first time. The ride began and my wife whipped out her iphone for pictures like a touch-screen ninja. Immediately, we realized that from the front of the ride you can’t see your kids face very well.

It was at this point that we noticed the lack of walls\fences\rails\shrubs that force people to stay in one spot like Six Flags has. We both ran around the side of the ride and got some awesome pictures of the kid riding her first coaster!

The train:
She was exiting the dragon when the train passed by and I tried to offer her my left hand this time so maybe it would stretch to the same length as the right. The arm yanking began and we headed to the station.

I have always loved trains so we take the opportunity to ride any one we come across. The Fort Worth Zoo train, the Trinity express, the train at Frank Buck Park in Gainesville. . We ride them all. I love any kind of train ride but my favorite ones have playful conductors. I could tell with the conductor’s “all aboard” call that this was going to be a favorite.

The conductor gave his talk as we circled the park and his performance was perfect. We rode the train another time later in the day so I know he says the same thing every trip but you don’t get that feeling. He told a story about a tree (that I think my kid believed) and other such tall tales.

The tilt-a-whirl:
After the train ride, I was the one dragging my daughter to one of the rides we had seen. You can’t be in a carnival-like atmosphere and not ride the tilt-a-whirl. My wife (wisely) decided to just watch as the kid and I boarded the red and blue carts. We had screams of delight and LOTS of “weeeeee”s as the iphone ninja kept snapping photos.

I am not sure what the age to g-force limit is but I worried once or twice that I might be passing it. Therefore, my wife took the next shift and road “the spider” and “the white coaster” with her. My daughter decided to brave the white coaster on her own and I used my new found trick of walking around the ride to find the best camera angle. Keeping in mind that I am only an apprentice iphone ninja.

The bumper cars:
Here is where my wife and I had the most fun. We didn’t even ride the cars but we knew how it was going to go. All of us old folks know that the steering on authentic bumper cars is kind of hit-and-miss. Turn the wheel too much and you’re doing doughnuts. Turn it all the way over and you reverse. Well imagine that plus being nine years shy of a license and you can picture how well the kid did.

It was also here though that we noticed it wasn’t just the owner who cared about kids. The employee on the ride stopped the cars probably 6 times to point her car forward but each time, he actually gave her a driving lesson. He pushed the car toward the wall and asked “how are you going to make the car turn and miss the wall” to teach her about the steering. That was really cool.

The other parents and kids were cool too. A young girl deflected a few bad hits while shouting driving instructions and even the other side-line parents were shouting “you’re doing great” and “turn the wheel”.
Because of the low-key atmosphere, I was free to laugh myself into a stupor while shouting “now you turned it too much.. turn the other way”. I am still laughing about it now.

The haunted house:
On our way to mini golf, we stopped by the haunted house. My daughter, who just braved every other ride was actually a bit frightened of this one. Luckily when we got to the top, there was a kind looking grandfatherly figure sitting in a folding chair. As we got closer, he could read it on my kids face and he shouted “don’t worry honey, I am the scariest thing on this ride”. He seemed to know the exact right words and she calmed down immediately.

The People, the times and the impression:
After the ride, we sat and talked with the man for about 10 minutes. I am not usually one to get gooey and philosophical about things but with this man and every other employee we chatted with, I began thinking what a shame it is that younger people sometimes miss out on talking like this. The guy was hilarious as he described his years of working the fun house and I am pretty sure he made a permanent friend with my daughter. She even asked if she could donate her werewolf costume to the guy to help him with “his” ride.

We chatted with a few employees like this and they all seemed to genuinely enjoy working there and making kids happy. The location is amazing. It is so close to all the big cities but as soon as you drive through the gates, the trees cut all the noise and you actually feel like you are in a less hectic time. The owner mentioned that the place has been in business for 40+ years and I really believe going there today feels the same as it did 40 years ago. As a computer guy, I LOVE technology and up-to-the-second equipment but this place was different. (brace yourself for the sap ahead) I actually felt a kind of connection with my grandparents and what life must have been like for them at my age before everything got so modern and complicated. I feel like this place is what it must have been like before amusement parks became like the walmarts of entertainment. It was personal, friendly and just plain simple fun.

I am going to remember the feelings of this spring break for a long time. The laughs and squeals we got weren’t because paid Hollywood to babysit us for an hour or we exchanged a quarter for a ticket at Chuck-e-cheese. They were generated by my family being together and having the freedom and time to enjoy our company.

Thanks Sandy Lake and we’ll see you soon,

the Man, the dad and the husband

Family fun in the Dallas area