Birthday in Kemah

Tonight we celebrated the March birthday's at Kemah boardwalk. This is a truly wonderful place, very overpriced, and a great place to have a birthday party in March. We had dinner at the Saltgrass restaurant, where one of the waiters turned out to be a young man who was a young boy when he lived down the street from us. He recognized me right away, and I was really touched, as I haven't seen him in at least 8 years.

PaPa and I arrived early with Kayleigh so that she could ride the train. She played one of the arcades and won a large stuffed animal, and after that, it was the Merry go round, and then time for dinner. After dinner, it was back to the rides. Since she is little, she could not and didn't even want to, ride the bigger rides. The Merry go round is two storied, and of course, she wanted to ride the top floor. Okay, let's see- the stairs leading up to the top floor were so narrow and winding, that it was a fat woman's nightmare. But I am Nana you see, and so, up I went. All I could think as I took my life in my hands, was that the people behind me had their vision blocked by my huge hiney. I squeezed myself up those stairs and Kayleigh decided that she wanted to ride a plain old horse. Now, there were unicorns, zebras, seahorses, even a frog, but no, she wanted to ride the regular horse. Okay, ride whatever you want- and as the ride began to circle, believe it or not, I got motion sick. I had a huge shrimp dinner in my stomach, and as the ride continued, I felt more and more ill. I was on the second story of a Merry go round, swaying with the motion of the thing, and started wondering if I could even hold my dinner down. Looking over the edge of the railing didn't help, after all I am going at a smart clip 25 feet above the ground, and discovered that even if I did spew, I would hit at least 50 or more merry makers waiting for their turn to ride, or taking pictures of their kids, or just standing around. Finally, the ride began to slow, and I turned to go down the stairs. Kayliegh then decided that she wanted to ride the seahorse, and that was fine, as I didn't have to mount the stairs again. She got settled and I sat myself down in the bench next to the seahorse. The next thing I know, the teenager who was manning the ride, climbed the stairs and came over to me. "You have to exit the amusement before you can ride again" he said. I patiently explaned that Kayliegh had a band that allowed her to ride all night for one price. He told me that the rules were very clear, and I had to exit the ride if Kayleigh wanted to ride again. "Nana, I want to ride the seahorse!"exclaimed Kayliegh. I said, "she wants to ride the seahorse, and if I exit the ride, I have to go down those narrow stairs, go all the way around the ride, get back on the ride, hope that someone else doesn't get the seahorse first, and then, at the risk of my life, haul my fat hiney up those stairs again! Now, move it mister, she wants to ride the seahorse!" The little pissant gathered his courage and told me once again that the ride could not start until everyone who was previously riding got off and new people got on. A sheen of perspiration formed on his lip as he stood his ground, and I realized that this "six dollar an hour genius" was not going to back down. So, like the gracious lady that I am, I told Kayleigh that we had to get off the ride and get back on. She said, "Nana, I guess I am not going to get to ride the seahorse, huh?" I smiled and told her that she could if she wanted, and she decided that there was much more to do than to torture Nana with the stairs. (what a good girl!) Then, I had to go back down the stairs, and my feet were twice as long as the treads of the stairs. I could not see to dance lightly down those life taking stairs, so I took them one at a time, while the crowd waited for me to exit. I could hear murmers, and I know what they were, but too bad, this fat old granny wasn't risking my life! Fortunately for me, Kayleigh rode a few other rides and then I decided that we needed to find PaPa. It was rather late, and Kayleigh was getting tired, so we were able to get in the car without too much drama. Oh, by the way, I forgot the birthday cake and Robby's gift at home, so I guess we will all assemble once again tomorrow to eat birthday cake! We did have a wonderful time, and I know that no matter what the rest may bring, the blessings far outweigh the troubles.