All Fun and Games!

Part of Perfect Moment Mondays…

The only “fun parks” we had growing up in Arizona were water slides. There was only one amusement park in the entire state – Legend City in Phoenix. And anytime we happened to be visiting Phoenix, a 3-hour drive from Lake Havasu City where I grew up, it always seemed to be closed for one reason or another. It was permanently closed in 1983 after suffering several bankruptcies. I guess it was just too hot to expect people to put their kids in metal spinning cups when it was 120 degrees out. Since its’ closing, Phoenix remains the largest metropolitan area in the United States without a major amusement park.

So, I have to say I’m a little jealous of my daughter Reagan, whose summer daycare visits Denver’s Elitch Gardens once a week. There’s also Lakeside Amusement Park and Heritage Square within the Denver metro area. Frontier Airlines does a family picnic at Elitch’s every summer, and though we missed it this summer, I decided it was time to try a different park. So we made the trek to Golden to visit the charming Heritage Square, where all the rides were just right for a 3 & 4-year-old.

Reagan and gal-pal, Sarah were keeping us on our toes as they scampered from ride to ride, sometimes squabbling over which ride to do next. There were enough rides to keep the fun going all day. Thankfully, Sarah’s mommy took on the job of riding the spinning rides with the girls as I didn’t last long after one or two of them. Reagan definitely takes after her mommy as mid-way through the tea-cup ride, she began to look a little queasy with her head between her knees. The ride was stopped so she could get off, despite her protests. I explained that we didn’t want to stay on if it made her tummy hurt. After each subsequent ride she would proudly proclaim “it didn’t make my throat hurt, Mommy!”

We saved the Ferris Wheel for last and enjoyed the spectacular view.

No day out is complete without ice cream, and the Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor at Heritage Square was as quaint as the rest of the village. Reagan enjoyed her usual of mint chip and I had the spumoni, filled with fruit and nuts. Both were homemade and the largest scoops I had ever seen. It was no wonder Reagan had some difficulty keeping hers’ on her cone. As the ice cream dripped all over her hands, I tried to teach her the art of keeping the ice cream equally licked on all sides. She’s still getting it, but is sure to be a pro in no time.

As we drove home, Reagan nodded off in her car seat. That’s when you know it’s been a perfect day.