Round and Round and Round He Goes

It's rare to come across the kind of playground I played on as a little girl, and even more rare to find playgrounds that still have actual merry-go-rounds (at some point, the playground powers-that-be decided that spinning wildly on merry-go-rounds causes injury and much to my dismay, had nearly all of them removed).

We found an "old school" playground on our summer travels though, at Mahoney State Park in Nebraska. I absolutely loved watching Will - and then Hallie, once she'd watched Will for a while and figured out how to get on, stay on, and climb off - experience the thrill of a playground merry-go-round for the first time...just like I did as a little girl, Will ran around the merry-go-round until it picked up enough speed, leapt on, and then hung on for dear life until the ride slowed to a crawl. Over and over and over again.

I, on the other hand, rode the merry-go-round for only one full rotation before I had to hop off and return to my safe place at the covered picnic table. I didn't tell the kids it was because I thought I might vomit...

As a 34-year-old who now has motion sickness, the lion's head water fountain was more my pace.