Summer Amusement

I know that this might sound strange, but when my kids were younger, I dreaded the end of summer. We had so much fun together that the arrival of August would make me long for the early days of June.

Each summer meant a trip to at least one amusement park, and more often than not, it was Hersheypark. We would all hit the sack early the night before. The almost two hour drive and the ritual breakfast stop at Mountaingate restaurant meant that we had to be backing out of the driveway no later than 7am in order to arrive in time for the park’s opening.

Hersheypark was always my favorite of the parks. It was there, at the age of 14 months that my son took his first steps. It was in Hershey that my daughter fell in love with her first roller coaster at the age of five.

With each trip to Hershey, the first on the list of rides was the Comet. My children both loved roller coasters-the front car always being the best seat. Typically after the first ride, they were back in line to do it all over again. We would pry them from the Comet and then move on to the Super Dooper Looper.

They would ride all day long, and we would walk back through the gates as the park was closing. The drive back home would begin with the two of them giggling in the back seat and end with the two of them fast asleep by the time we reached Thurmont.

Both of my babies returned home this summer. Although it was only for a few days, my memories of summers past came flooding back. We took that trip to Hersheypark once again, but this time the back seat held my granddaughter’s car seat.

Scheduled departure time was 7am, as always, and we filled our bellies once again at Mountaingate. Yes, my kids ran right to the roller coasters when we entered the park. They’ve changed a bit since the last time we were there. My “older” babies admitted that Skyrush was a bit tough on their aging systems.

I strolled my granddaughter’s carriage past the place where I held my son’s hand as he took his first steps. I watched my own daughter giggle and run to the line for the roller coasters. It was just like old times, but it wasn’t. I was spending my time gazing at this new little girl. She smiled and giggled on the rides, too. We spent some quality time, just the two of us, amusing ourselves in that amusement park while the "older" kids went riding. Some new traditions were beginning.

As the sun began to set, I started to dread the end of the day. The end of my “summer,” my visit with my babies.

They’re all back at their own homes now. Summer vacation has ended for me. But the beautiful thing about summer is that it comes back every year. We’ve already begun planning next year’s amusement park excursion.