{"id":3920,"date":"2014-06-16T07:31:08","date_gmt":"2014-06-16T14:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/?p=3920"},"modified":"2014-06-15T14:32:58","modified_gmt":"2014-06-15T21:32:58","slug":"the-riverfront-carousel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/the-riverfront-carousel\/","title":{"rendered":"The Riverfront Carousel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Salem100\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the more challenging aspects of a small town vacation with rambunctious newly minted 4-year-olds is finding an intellectually stimulating activity that will still drain the preschoolers of a good deal of energy.<\/p>\n

To the park!<\/p>\n

Now, the parks in Albany, Oregon, aren\u2019t like the traditional suburban set-ups us Californians enjoy. We arrived expecting a swath of blue rubber shock absorption material and a colorful plastic safety-first play structure.<\/p>\n

But here, wide-open landscapes allow for children to run to their heart\u2019s content \u2013 feeling the grass beneath their feet and the wind against their rosy-cheeked faces. These are actual parks. Complete with a compost demonstration heap and dangerous historical relics (like a steam-engine locomotive) that would immediately result in a proliferation of graffiti and lawsuits. (This is why we can\u2019t have nice things.)<\/p>\n

\"Oregon_17_06-05-14\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We even braved the park bathrooms! Well the boys did. I remained 50-yards away at all times \u2013 because, well, because. (And there was only one pooping incident with which we communed with nature \u2013 leaves of a non-poisonous nature were involved.)<\/p>\n

Seems like a lot of opportunity for mud pies during the rainy season (May through April).<\/p>\n

So for the rare celebratory event of sunshine we headed up to Salem to take in quintessential Americana \u2013 the Riverfront Carousel.<\/p>\n

Tucked away on the Willamette River (rhymes with dammit) is a covered carousel featuring beautiful hand-carved horses of all types and eras of equestrian majesty \u2013 regal mounts, thoroughbred racehorses, medieval cavalry, pioneer wagon-pullers \u2013 all sculpted by volunteer artists and wood-carvers.<\/p>\n

Except for that one guy. He decided to carve a frog. Yes, amid the variety of gallant galloping steeds was a single frog (wearing a newsboy cap).<\/p>\n

Guess which ride my kid picked? Yup, Mr. Hopkins.<\/p>\n

\"Oregon_53_06-07-14\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Search rode\u00a0Francis the Mule.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know what it is about the carousel that sings its siren song to the small children. Whereas the old-timey organ music and bobbing piked horses spinning wildly on their circular flight seem like nothing more than a recipe for motion sickness to me, it seems that the tiny ones experience only the butterflies in their tummies as the world spins further out of their control into a magical adventure accessible only through the imagination of a child.<\/p>\n

We just so happened to visit the rotating ride on its birthday (carving day?). Each beautifully colored pony was wearing a paper party hat. And there was free cake.<\/p>\n

Apparently there was also a time machine.<\/p>\n

Clinging to one of the spiraled poles, lost in what was undoubtedly visions of John Wayne riding off into the sunset, was a young boy completely cosplaying Howdy Doody. A tan felt cowboy laced with thick white string topped a plaid button down shirt, and light wash jeans were tucked into cowboy boots complete with spurs. A red neck-kerchief completed the ensemble.<\/p>\n

You just know this kid had a Woody the Cowboy pull-string doll waiting on the picnic blanket just outside the pavilion. Completing the movie moment, the soundtrack to Pixar\u2019s Toy Story serenaded my observation of the spectacle that was the pony-riding pint-sized cowboy through the tinny music pipes.<\/p>\n

Suddenly I was suspiciously eyeing the all the toys lying askew in the gift shop. I wonder if kids these days know they\u2019re all coming alive when human backs are turned.<\/p>\n

Maybe they wouldn\u2019t even notice here \u2013 running through the park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the more challenging aspects of a small town vacation with rambunctious newly minted 4-year-olds is finding an intellectually stimulating activity that will still drain the preschoolers of a good deal of energy. To the park!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[34],"tags":[472,1630,181,393,1627],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Sbzi-11e","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1717,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/supermen\/","url_meta":{"origin":3920,"position":0},"title":"Supermen","date":"September 18, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The muppets have been in daycare for a month. Three days into this adventure, they got the sniffles. \u201cIt\u2019s gonna come quick and it\u2019s gonna hit hard,\u201d their teacher warned. Early this week, a clingy Search was deposited in Daddy\u2019s arms. \u201cHe\u2019s a little toasty and he just doesn\u2019t seem\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Baby Photos"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Search_Sick_09-15-11-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3453,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/the-oregon-trail-or-crossing-california-with-tiny-people\/","url_meta":{"origin":3920,"position":1},"title":"The Oregon Trail (or crossing California with tiny people)","date":"July 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"As we celebrated the birth of our nation this past holiday weekend, I thought it only appropriate to harken back to the days of yore. To revisit a significant period in our nation\u2019s history and perhaps discuss the impact it has on us today. I am, of course, referring to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Holidays"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/oregon-trail-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3562,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/being-awesome-at-the-disneyland-dumbo-double-dare-adventure\/","url_meta":{"origin":3920,"position":2},"title":"Being Awesome at the Disneyland Dumbo Double Dare Adventure","date":"September 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The timing around our summer vacation was twofold. Preschool takes a week off between the end of summer school and the start of a new school year; and I take a great masochistic pleasure in running the Disneyland Half Marathon. So when we returned from Hawaii, our extended family headed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Parenting"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/First-Visit2-292x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1045,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/up-the-waterspout\/","url_meta":{"origin":3920,"position":3},"title":"Up the Waterspout","date":"January 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I never thought 8:30 a.m. would be considered \u201csleeping in.\u201d But this morning, I heard some muppet chatter at 7. I closed my eyes briefly, hoping they were just checking the time with one another. (\u201cOOoahhhh?\u201d \u2013 Search, I\u2019m awake. Are you? Should we get up now? \u201cWwwwmllawww.\u201d \u2013 No\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Family Stories"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3070,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/the-house-of-mouse-or-yay-gramma\/","url_meta":{"origin":3920,"position":4},"title":"The House of Mouse (or \u201cYAY! GRAMMA!\u201d )","date":"January 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes folks, we went to Disneyland. HONEY! I\u2019M HOME! With the exception of that rather unfortunate second birthday party appearance of \u201cMickey Mouse\u201d I\u2019ve always been a Disney girl. To me \u2013 it\u2019s the happiest place on earth. Although I would like to take this moment to clarify. Disneyland is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Vacation"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Disneyland_Half-Marathon-Finisher_01-20-13-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3078,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/disneyland-dumbo-double-dare\/","url_meta":{"origin":3920,"position":5},"title":"Disneyland Dumbo Double Dare","date":"January 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I told you yesterday that GrammaJ and AuntJ will be running this fall\u2019s Disneyland Half Marathon with me. (I did that mostly to publicly peer pressure them into *actually* signing up.) I plan to complete the Dumbo Double Dare, which per the website: If you think that a half marathon\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3920"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3920\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}