Wicked!

Last weekend we had the rare privilege of having all of our kids together. To celebrate the occasion (and also my birthday) we took our brood to Lagoon. Thanks to Grandpa Cheney's employee discount, we didn't have to mortgage our home to pay the entrance fees. We had a grand time, even with an on-again-off-again afternoon drizzle.

Some of us were brave enough to go on the new ride, Wicked.

The yellow tower you see is the track that goes STRAIGHT UP and then STRAIGHT DOWN. I closed my eyes on the way up, but opened them going down. Yes, yes, a little backwards, it's true--but holy hell, the up was scary. The down was just roller coastery fun.

Before:

Kate, 10, and Maryanne, 8, were the only ones brave enough to go with me. They laughed the whole ride through.

After:

They gave Wicked a thumbs up. So did I!

Grandma and Grandpa met us for a ride on the carousel. Grandpa spent most of his retirement on ice cream cones for the kids . . .

which nobody finished.

We got a little wet from a typical Utah autumn shower (to celebrate the coming of the season, I suppose), but we had scads of fun. Just look at the faces below. That's happiness!

And of course, we never pass up the opportunity to embarrass our kids in public!

Happy birthday to me!