And Then, Kennywood...

 Yesterday, we went to Kennywood.  We were planning to go all summer but, suddenly, it was really the very last day we could go before their fall schedule and our fall schedules got all wonky.  That seemed to be the case for everyone else as it was pretty busy for a Monday.  Donovan, of course, was all keyed up about going--he's been doing this thing lately when he gets excited where he jumps up and down with this grimace on his face, going, "YEYEYEYEYE!"  Its as if he's so excited he might explode.  The first ride he went on was The Jackrabbit.  He did so well on the Rollo Coaster at Idlewild, we thought it might work.  It did'nt--but he was a big boy and did'nt cry or anything.  Mike said, right before the double dip, Donny turned to him and said, "I'd like this to go a little slower, please."  Poor kid.

 We tried to rebalance him with a stop at the Merry Go Round.  Kennywood is really marketing the fact that they are going to have events in December.  That could be why the Merry Go Round was playing "Silver Bells."  I took it very personally, in a good way, however, when they went into Bach's Toccata and Fugue and then into The Addams Family Theme.

 From there it was onto Kiddieland.  You'd think you could be in and out of Kiddieland in an hour or so.  You'd be wrong.

 Donny wanted to take full advantage of all the rides there, which is why we came.  It was just crowded enough, tho, that it made for sloooow going.  He was just fine with it all but Mom and Dad were a little irritable by the end.

 Meet my son, the Lion Dentist.

From Kiddieland, we went over to Lost Kennywood, where the only ride Donny could really go on was The Whip.  Luckily he loved it.  It didnt hurt that he got to sit in a RED CAR that had a RED SEAT and also had HIS FAVORITE NUMBER ON IT.  All the stars came together on that one.

 Finally, as we were leaving, I caught a whiff of one of my favorite smells: burnt sugar.  Turns out there was a little cart where someone was actually making FRESH cotton candy!  I put FRESH in all caps because buying a bag of cotton candy is no problem at Kennywood but if its not fresh, why bother?  I immediately got in the long line and took Donny with me.  He was fairly crabby as he did not want to leave Kennywood--which is a completely normal response but still hard to deal with when its your kid and its time to go.  When we got close enough, I held him up and showed him the gal making the cotton candy:

                     D: What's she doing?
                     Me: Making Cotton Candy.
                     D: But what is that?
                     Me: Clouds.  She's putting sugar in the big pot and she's making clouds.
                     D: We're going to eat clouds?
                     Me: Yeah--pink ones! 

That was all the kid needed.  The magic was back.  And, damn, fresh cotton candy: the first 5 minutes before the air calms it down; its like heaven.  Sticky, sticky heaven.

 While we ate our clouds, the All Marching Band And Float Parade started. 

 We watched a little bit but then we reallllly had to go.  Donovan very much liked that the heart on the way out said, "Good Night."

 Good Night, Kennywood.  Thanks for the clouds and the good times.  See yinz next year!