feeling my age

quite recently i (and a few other adults) took a hand full of our youth group to Worlds of Fun, the Six Flags of Kansas City because there have NOT been six flags flying over Missouri OR Kansas for that matter - which is another topic for another day.  enough digression.


each may, as a way to celebrate the end of the year the youth go to worlds of fun in the middle of the week, right after school is out.  it has been a long time since i'd been to an amusement park.  honestly, i wasn't looking forward to it.  i knew i'd have a great time with the kids, but i don't like roller-coasters and it was going to be hot and (lets be honest) i'm out of shape.  so i whined to my family about it for a couple of days and then made up my mind to make the best out of it and have as much fun as i could.


when we got there, we divided into groups and hit the park.  i got the less adventurous group - because i was upfront about not riding crazy roller coasters.  the first thing we hit was the finnish fling, one of those rides that spins and throws you against the wall and you're held there by the force of the spin (centripetal, centrifugal i can't remember which).  


the point being - when i got off that thing i was a wreck.  i couldn't see straight, i couldn't walk straight, i could barely breathe!  i sat out the next three rides and tried not to get too nauseous.  i have never felt my age until that moment. all of a sudden i was in my thirties surrounded by kids in their teens.  


i got better as the day went on, rode some more run, low key rides, and my youth were wonderful enough to realize the the finnish fling had flung me into a veritable funk, but we had fun.  toward the end of the day, i wanted to take a spin on what was my all time favorite ride in an amusement park - one of the boats that makes a giant loop and gets your insides all tingly. so i grabbed another kid and we got on.  


but the problems were still there!  something i remembered as being fun and exciting made me cringe, nauseous again, and gave me a headache.  it was all i could do not to scream - stop the ride! i wanna get off!!!


I never was much of a roller coaster girl, and i always believed the mantra that age is how you act/feel not just some number on a birth certificate or drivers license. 
i was wrong. i am too old for amusement park fun.