The Teen Scene

I had the day off today from toddler-duty so I could do teen-duty instead.  I left the girls with my in-laws this morning and accompanied my 14-year-old niece Alli and four of our young teenage friends to the water park at Six Flags New England.   And although I never had to change a diaper or put anyone down for a nap, there were a few similarities in my daily duties.  I still found myself:

1) Spinning in circles trying to keep track of quickly-moving kids

2) Watching the kids poke each other in the back and head (although this was much more fun because I didn’t feel the need to intervene to preserve anybody’s eyeballs)

3) Laughing at how much fun kids have “frolicking” in bodies of water

4) Encouraging the kids to be brave and not whine when something looked too scary

5) Rewarding the kids with ice cream

6) Listening to the kids scream (although this was actually enjoyable, given that the screaming was coming from Alli who was emitting high-pitched staccato yelps as she hurtled down various waterslides)

7) Having to put up with “The Wiggles” – they’re everywhere! 

All joking aside, I had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed the day.  These are REALLY good kids that were a lot of fun to hang out with.  I can only hope my girls grow up to be as responsible and well-behaved (at least, the boys were well-behaved if you don’t hold against them a few warning whistles from over-cautious lifeguards who clearly didn’t understand the value of horseplay!). 

There are more a few more pictures I wanted to post, but they’re on Alli’s camera and I bungled the download onto my laptop, so hopefully I’ll add them here in the next day or two when I next see Alli.  This is the only picture of the group that I ended up with.  I guess it captures their toddler-like behavior!