So today our little family went to visit 'The Happiest Place on Earth' to celebrate my birthday. This was, in fact, Gavin's first foray into the Magic Kingdom. I learned something important: For a very short window in a child's life, the number of hours he can happily spend at an amusement park exactly matches up with his parents'. That window, for Gavin at least, is at eighteen months. He can happily walk, ride, and sit for about four hours at a stretch, all the while visually stimulated by brightly clad cartoon characters and spoonfed vanilla ice cream. Happily, that is all his parents could handle too! Clearly, looking at the exhausted faces of the parents around us, being hauled around by energetic children both larger and older, this window of serendipity ends. Kids' energy levels expand, even as those of their parents shrink. Or maybe it's a parasitic relationship - kids' energy levels expand by stealing the staying power that once belonged to those who birthed them. All I know is that today, we were all exhausted after just a few hours time, and as much as we enjoyed our day, we were all happy to bid Pooh Bear a fond farewell.
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