A roller coaster ride...

As a rule, I'm kind of a wimp when it comes to roller coasters.
I like mine to be sort of leisurely with limited surprises.
So when we went to Orlando this past month I had to buck up a little.
I only agreed to ride the Rip Ride Rocket because my grandson really wanted me to. "You'll like it, gramma!" Jack promised. (He'd never been on it but he was sure about how much I'd like it.)

Not your grandma's ride

I went on the Dragon Challenge at Diagon Alley because I thought it was the benign Hippogryff ride I've been on several years earlier.
Wrong!

Watch out, the monster's torn out the track!

I rode backwards in the dark at high speed on the Everest Expedition because no one told me I'd be doing that after the Abominable Snowman wrecked the track.
Stomach dropper!

This is grandma's ride!

In all I figure we went on more than a dozen roller coasters — mostly back to back and several involving getting soaked — during the week I was in Univeral Studios and Disney World.
I'm pretty sure my doctor would not have approved. He's been concerned about my spinal cord for a while now.
But "Big Thunder Railroad" is a keeper. So is Space Mountain.
I love "The Hulk" because it shoots me out fast and I don't have time to panic. (The California Screamer is similar.)
The Gringotts bank ride is quick.
As we journeyed from line to line and thrill to thrill I tried to be a sport but I drew the line at Transformers and again at The Mummy ride. The Tonight Show ride through New York was sold out until 8 p.m. so I didn't get to form an opinion on it.
I thought for a senior citizen I gave it all a fair shot.
After all, I won't ride Wicked at Lagoon or the new Cannibal ride because I have a lot of time to reconsider my choices as the cars are pulled up the hill.
I prefer the Bat where you just sort of drift around in the sky.
In Florida, I liked the Hogwarts Express because you stay on the ground and the African Safari because the bouncy jeep we rode it was rugged and dependable.
I found I could mostly work with a scary coaster by closing my eyes all the way through or pushing up against the back rest really hard.
Or I could ride the bench and watch the others get knocked around and drop-kicked.
That's my kind of fun.

Right off the edge!

Holy smoke!

It looks scary and it is.

Rocking and rolling...

The Hulk is a keeper!

Ski season

Conner and Brayden at Brighton

Adell on the downhill

Poor Marc.
This winter he had to go skiing time after time in order to get all the grandkids who wanted to try the sport on the hill.
He had to log more ski miles this year than he's covered in years.
This 65-year-old grandpa did the improbable.
He had 11-year-old Adell who qualified for the program for 5th/6th graders that allowed a child to ski three times at each of the local resorts for a $35 fee.
In order to capitalize on her passport, he felt he needed to get her on the hill as much as he could.
He had Brayden, the senior who was just coming into his own on his snowboard.
Marc wanted to get him up on the powder so he could try out his newly honed skills.
He had Conner, the younger brother, who wanted to try it.
And you can't go just once.
Skiing demands a time or two — minimum — after the first go.
So Marc simply had to keep loading up the ski-rack and driving up the hill.
He even had to buy a new pair of skis and replace the ski boots that have become outdated and tight.
He had to pay the high prices for lunch at the lodge.
And I had to support him taking whole days here and there while I warmed the home fires.
(I didn't mind because my skiing days ended when I blew out a knee several years back. I like the fact that he can get some quality time with some grandkids as well.)

Happy skiers

So now that the snow is melting and we're turning back to biking and visits to the zoo, I'm a little sad.
It came and went really fast.
We do, however, have the photos!
Tough duty I say!

Upping my game

I've had to improve my smashing and bashing skills since Cael discovered Rampage! in our ancient video game collection.
He's 3 and doesn't like it when I die and ruin the game.
So I've had to learn to kick, grab and jump up and down on the buildings in Salt Lake City, Denver, Madrid, Los Angeles and Barcelona.
I have to pay attention to where the food is and make sure I don't run out of energy as we go along.
Cael also has a problem with my character punching his or getting tangled up with him as he tries to climb a skyscraper.
The problem is I didn't pay enough attention when my sons were playing this game years ago.
Usually I just wanted them to turn it off because the monsters make all kinds of noise as they destroy virtual communities.
(This is for a game we've had for 30 years!)
Cael and I are usually here alone when he comes to visit so I can't just rely on his older sister to help me.
She has shown me the codes to enter so I can get a stronger guy to do my destroying and Cael waits patiently while I input the letters and numbers.
But despite my best efforts, I still die too soon.
I'll be playing along trying not to get shot down or injured by fire and flying bullets when Cael will suddenly wilt in his banana chair.
"Died!" he'll cry. "Died!"
He means I died and it kind of puts a damper on our game as one player is left to finish knocking down buildings.
I've decided I will add in some practice time when he's not here and upgrade my game.
Instead of cleaning and cooking and writing stories, I will work on my kicking holes in the walls and plucking hapless people out of windows.
After all, that's the least a good grandma can do, right?

A crown of a different color

I paid a hefty sum for our tickets to the Medieval Feast in Orlando, Florida, which I didn't begrudge at the time.
I remembered taking three kids to this joust and dinner about 15 years back and it was entertaining. (You're all shuffled into a long table/seating area and pretty much left to make your way through the chicken and soup and salad with your fingers while knights and horses square off in the sand in the middle of the arena. The King and his daughter choose the victor for the hand of the princess.)
My son remembered it too and he wanted his son to experience the drama, the adventure and the fun.
So we bought tickets well in advance online.

Our knight is the one in yellow and red

We talked about what knight we might get to champion.
On the night of the feast, we arrived an hour early so as to claim good seats and a clear line of view.
(Turns out we were roughly assigned seats depending on how much we spent for our seats.)
When I declined an upgrade, we were summarily handed paper crowns that were red and yellow striped and basically dismissed.
We gathered in the big room where there were drinks for sale and souvenirs with high price tags...chess sets, feather fans, masks and leather-bound journals.
We hung around there killing time until the master of ceremonies starting announcing our entrances.
"Those with VIP tags and gold crowns may enter through the gates!" the man said.
"Those with VIP tags and blue crowns may enter through the gates," he sang.
"Those with VIP tags and silver crowns may now enter through the gates," he continued and on and on he went, inviting those who had spent more money than we to go in first.
One group after another marched through the doors into the arena leaving us with the wrong color crowns standing behind.
It was somewhat humiliating.
We didn't have red crowns or green crowns or blue crowns or black-and-white striped crowns.
We were the lower caste crown folk and it became evident within minutes.
Finally, we were allowed through the double doors but not until we'd been shown the color of money and of the right color crowns and what that could buy.
We ate well.
We saw an impressive show.
My grandson loved the horses, the clanging swords and the colors.
It's an event to remember but you know, somehow I think there's a better way to have done this.