Saratoga News
Columns
Recalling those special memoriesand the other ones
By Dick Sparrer
There are so many moments in the lives of our children that, as parents, we look back upon with fondness. Remember those early T-ball games, that first school play, the Superman and Cinderella costumes on Halloween?
One of my greatest memories is from Christmas morning when the boys would peek around the corner from the top of the stairs, hoping to catch a glimpse of the treasures Santa Claus had left for them under the tree.
Ah, yes ... those wonderful memories.
Of course, that's just part of it. Then there are those moments parents don't miss at all--fighting the crowds on expensive shopping trips to Toys "R" Us to buy those Christmas treasures, those riotous birthday parties at Chuckie Cheese Pizza Time Theater when the noise was unbearable and the pizza was worse, and those hot, exhausting daylong outings to Great America, Marine World and Raging Waters.
Oh, sure for a young family it's all fun when you're a young parent doing things with your young children (catch that key word: young). But as parents get older, those events become somewhat tedious. I suppose that's why nature designed it that way--we have our children when we're young so that we can keep up with them, then we have plenty of time to rest.
Well, that's what I've been doing in recent years--resting after a whirlwind of almost three decades of raising two sons to adulthood. The days of Chuckie Cheese and Great America ended for me when my boys graduated from college and officially left the family payroll ... or so I thought.
Little did I know, it was going start all over again--once parenthood gave way to grandparenthood.
Oh, don't get me wrong. Being a grandparent is a wonderful thing. When I married Natalie and inherited what is now six grandchildren, I was thrilled. I just didn't know at the time that "outings" would be part of the bargain.
"Oh, look," Natalie said a couple of months back as she looked through the morning paper. "Thomas the Train is coming to the Roaring Camp Railroad in Felton."
"That's nice," I replied, paying more attention to my sports page and another Thomas--Frank Thomas of the Oakland A's.
"We should take the kids," she added.
"Sure, honey, whatever you say," I mumbled.
The next thing I knew, four tickets for Thomas the Train arrived in the mail, and we were booked for the first Saturday in August.
"What are these?" I asked Natalie.
"Tickets for Roaring Camp," she explained. "Remember, you said we should take the kids? So I went ahead and ordered the tickets."
"I said what?" I asked. "I don't remember ... " (Hmm, Roaring Camp ... Thomas the Train ... Thomas ... Frank Thomas ... it was all coming back.)
"Roaring Camp!" I moaned. "I've already done Roaring Camp with my boys. I thought all of that theme park stuff was over. We're too old ... "
"Hold it, buddy!" She stopped me cold at "old." "Don't even go there!"
"Uh, so when are we going?" I asked meekly.
Well, it was last Saturday. We packed up the two 2-year-olds, Evan and Thomas, and headed for the hills to see Thomas the Train. I wasn't much into a powder blue train engine with a smiley face (I'm more a Batman, Superman, Spiderman kind of guy), but the boys loved it. They squealed with delight as they watched the big blue train chug into the station. They stood up for the entire train ride, taking in the sights of the beautiful redwood forest. They gobbled up every bit of their barbecue lunch. They got tattoos, listened to stories, watched videos, played with Legos and toy trains, had their pictures taken with Thomas and some guy named Sir Topham Hatt, and visited the gift shop. In short, they wore Natalie and me out.
I recall how exhausting it was chasing a 2-year-old around Great America. So imagine that, times two, more than 20 years later!
Still, the boys loved it, and we enjoyed spending the day with the grandkids. But it was a little tough on the ol' legs, not the mention the ol' wallet:
Taking the grandkids to ride on Thomas the Train--$82.
A barbecue lunch for four--$40.
A visit to the gift shop to buy souvenirs of the day--$78.
Two boys sound asleep in their car seats on the ride home, clutching their Thomas the Train books in their hands--priceless.
