Here, Owen Owen.

I CAVED! What can I say? I remember a few years ago going to busy places and seeing those parent's who had "tethered" their kid to their wrist. I thought. "Seriously you can't watch your kid without having him attached to a leash?"

Well, my apology's!

I am now ONE OF THOSE parent's!

Liam wasn't like Owen. If I turned around too suddenly when he was a toddler, I would knock him over due to him being attached at my hip, so it was never a worry that he'd wander more than an inch from my side.

Owen however is a WHOLE DIFFERENT story! If I turn my back for longer than two seconds he is gone! Poof! vanished into thin air. Or I am running after him to save him from immediate death. He believes he's invincible, or that his Mom is Super Woman and can catch him with one finger while pushing the grocery cart, balancing that carton of eggs and keeping Liam from opening some toy he's found in the checkout, all at the same time.

Well With Spring comes the preview opening of Hershey Park. Any Mother who has a child like Owen starts to sweat at the thought of taking him to a HUGE public place with rides, candy, water, kids, toys, strollers, and his new fascination of having to walk EVERYWHERE now that he can walk.

So to make it easier on both of us I bought said "tether." But to make me feel better, and every other parent I will call it his buddy backpack. It's shaped like a monkey and the tail is the leash, but when the child outgrows the Houdini stage, you can remove the leash and it become a stylish backpack with a little pocket that you could fit, well not more than a pack of mini raisins in.
But really it's not inhumane! It's good parenting. And a bonus, Liam and his friends think they have their very own dog that they get to cart around HP. WIN! WIN!

We didn't get a picture, but Liam has been asking now for a year if he could go on a real coaster. Unfortunately they are for Reese's and above height only! We even tried putting his tallest shoes on last year but he still didn't make the cut.

But not this year, his head barely touches the dividing line, so we did a parent swap (You can both stand in line together, then one parent takes Liam while the other tries to keep Owen from jumping onto the tracks, then you switch.)

Nate took Liam for the first ride and I was a little worried. Liam isn't the bravest of kids, in fact he cries over just about anything, but I guess he's a thrill seeker. He LOVED it! as soon as they pulled back into the station he starts screaming, "Now you ride with me Mama, we go again!" And to be honest it was a good ride! When we got off a mom behind me says to her 8 year old, "I remember when we took you on this ride for the first time, but you weren't near as happy as his is, in fact, you were crying and told us you hated us and that you'd never ride another roller coaster again." I laughed then patted Liam on the head. That's my boy! The next words out of his mouth were now can I go on that one? The great Bear that is one of the ones where your feet dangle and you go upside down a million times. "I want to go upside down!"

Sorry buddy! You have to be a Jolly Rancher for that one. But one day!

See an enjoyable time had by all!