The weather held out a little bit longer for us this weekend and we took advantage of it by finally visiting Kongeparken (King's Park.) It is an amusement park south of Sandnes. The crowds were virtually non-existent this late in the season and we were able to ride most rides several times with little or no wait.
Sidney, we have determined, is a "coaster kid." Actually, I should start by saying the rules on amusement parks here are a bit different than the U.S. She was able to ride on most rides as long as one of us rode with her. This included the roller coaster, Alpine Slide, and another sort of slide somewhat akin to a flume ride. She loved them all, and by the eighth time on the roller coaster, she was riding the whole way with her hands stretched up high in the air.
There are also a lot of rides that probably wouldn't be legal in the U.S. One of these is a "rescue boat launch." One person sits in a little boat that looks like the rescue boat from an oil platform while the boat is hoisted up a long ramp. The boat is then released for a free-fall down the ramp and launches into the air for about 20 feet of free flight before splashing down into the water. Oh, and did I mention that there is no "ride attendant" on this one - it is controlled by the person riding it. I must admit, it was pretty cool!
The flume ride that Sidney liked was basically a slide with a small stream of water that you slide down in a little rubber boat. You also get air on this one as you go over the humps on the slide. With enough weight in the boat, you can also reach some pretty decent speeds.
Speaking of speed, there was a pretty cool alpine slide. Here you see Kimber reaching the end of the slide. Sidney rode with each of us several times, but liked when she rode with me better because the added weight meant more speed. She also liked that I didn't touch the brake all the way down. Kimber didn't like that part.
There are also a lack of fashion rules in Norway. Eighties fashion seems to be what is in with the kids here. Kimber says she hasn't seen this many sets of leg warmers in 20 years. As the eighties were a pretty big part of my formative years, even I can say this is a bit over-the-top.
Sunday was my 40th birthday. One of the nice things about living overseas is I didn't have to contend with ads in the newspaper that said "Over the Hill" and "Lordy, Lordy, look whose 40!" For the most part, we had a nice, relaxing day that included church and a nice brunch at Andrea's house. Thanks to all who wrote, called and personally delivered birthday greetings!
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