Spontaneous Fun

Whenever a person is consumed with various cares and pressures in life, he/she faces two options: 1) be responsible or 2) forget your worries and live it up. So, that was our predicament on Saturday – do we stay home and work, work, work or do we cash in our $20-off coupon at Six Flags? We decided to choose the option that was best for our mental health and well-being . . . we headed for the ‘coasters! (Note: In deciding what I should do with my life, I often resort to the "ten year test." This simply means that I ask myself: "Among all my options, what will have a bigger impact on my life ten years from now?" Because of the "ten year test," I have often forgone sleep to make memories. And, you know what? I’ve never regretted it! You see, ten years from now, I probably won’t remember that I was tired the next day or the dishes had to sit in the sink for an extra eight hours. But I will remember all the good times. That’s my theory any way. Take it or leave it.)

I LOVE ROLLER COASTERS!!! The faster they are, and the more loops and corkscrews they have, the better! As we walked through the gates at Six Flags, I felt like a little kid again. In fact, Kevin even told me that he felt like he was taking his little kid to a theme park - not his wife - because I kept jumping up and down while holding his hand. Just imagine it . . . "Please, daddy! Can we please go on that one next?!" To which he would reply: "Yes, Amy, just be patient. We can do it all - but not all at one time!" (It was very hard for me to contain myself.)

Our favorite rides were Medusa and the Tasmanian Devil. The lines were practically nonexistent on Saturday - so that was good. It always is a pain when you go to theme parks and pay 40 bucks to stand in line all day in the sun!

The most surprising aspect of the whole day was what we enjoyed best. The best thing we did all day was not ride on a roller coaster. Kevin wanted to go to the Butterfly Gardens. At first, I balked at the idea. And then I thought, "He’s being such a good guy to take me on all the rides - so I’ll do something that he wants to do." You know, every time Kevin suggests we do something, it usually turns out to be a winner. (Mental note: Amy should listen to Kevin more often.)

Oh my word! The Butterfly Garden was probably the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in all my life! We entered this building with tropical, balmy temperatures. There were signs everywhere that said: "Don’t touch the butterflies - let them touch you." I took in the garden setting surrounding me - there were many trees and plants and a large pond. A winding dirt path led us into the heart of the garden. And, then, before I could comprehend what was happening a group of butterflies fluttered past us. There were so many brilliant colors, I wanted them to fly slower so I could see them better. As we continued to walk along the path, the butterflies started coming out from what seemed like nowhere. Sometimes they would fly past us from behind, startling me. And other times they would be perched on a leaf or petal, slowly opening and folding back their bright wings. I had never before seen such beautiful butterflies. In fact, I didn’t even know that they existed like this. Some of the butterflies were bright royal blue. Some of them had red, white and black zig-zags. I saw one butterfly that had bright yellow upper wings and bright red lower wings. I don’t think I breathed during my whole Butterfly Garden experience . . . because it was all so amazing and unreal. I felt like I was walking in a fairy tale dream. And I didn’t want to wake up.

Life is comprised of so many beautifully diverse things. Everything is good - roller coasters and tropical butterflies.

(Oh, but I won’t disturb the pleasantness of this whole blog by telling you how, as we were walking toward a park bench, situated beneath a roller coaster, in order to look at our map, someone puked from several hundred yards above us and, had we been three seconds closer to our destination, we would have been hit with the sticky mess. But, like I said, I won’t give you details about that incident!)