I don’t even know where to begin with this one.  The day started out happily enough.  We went to the park and took a short hike – a pleasant experience for all involved.  Then later that evening we were supposed to head to The Trail of Lights at Zilker Park and have a fun-filled night of Christmas lights, having our photo taken with Santa, and a “fun” Ferris wheel ride.  The highs that day were near 80 degrees and then a violent cold front was supposed to move into the area at around mid-night with 40mph wind gusts that would drop the temperature 45-50 degrees over the course of a few hours.  While this was a slightly ominous prospect, it wasn’t supposed to happen until the wee hours of the morning, making our Trail of Lights experience warm and pleasant.  We brought jackets, of course, just in case it got a tad nippy after the sun went down, but nobody was needing to wear them yet.  This year, thankfully, I at least remembered to bring the boys’ shoes after having forgotten them last year.  Seeing as this is a 1-2 mile outdoor hike through a Christmas light wonderland, shoes are important and I already considered the night a success for remembering them.

After walking through the winter wonderland of lights, we finally made it to see Santa and get to the small fairground area.  It was still nice and warm and the boys wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel.  I usually opt to sit this one out and wait at the bottom with our stroller but this time, I decided to come along for the ride.  The line was about 45 minutes long.  Colin wanted to run around and was very grumpy with David holding him.  Nathan and William decided waiting in line was the perfect time to get into a sparring match with each other.  Each little step forward we made was filled with Colin’s grumpy cries and me shouting at Nathan and William to settle down and stop acting like wolves.  Once we made it to the part of the line where it zigzags through the metal chain isles, the boys were getting more rambunctious and I was getting more irritated.  One woman next to us, holding her nice and calm daughter looked at me, my pregnant belly, crazy boys, and back again and simply stated, “You are so brave.” while shaking her head.  Ha!  I didn’t even get the chance to tell her we were having another boy!

It was just at that moment that a massive gust of wind blew through, taking our breath away.  Leaves and debris flew through the line and the cold was biting.  At that point I didn’t pay too much attention because it was just a singular gust and we were almost at the top of the line.  But then another gust came… and another.  It was getting cold and the gusts were fierce.  But the boys were anxious to get on the ride and we were already next in line.  The man working the Ferris Wheel chuckled as he put on a hat and gloves and said “It’s going to be cold up there everyone!”  But we had no idea just how cold and terrifying the experience would be.

On we boarded and started our stop and go ride up ¼ of the way.  Then the wind gusts really started.  As we made our way around the wind was blowing so violently is was deafeningly loud, the cold was biting, and our little seats were rocking back and forth violently.  Around and around we went and the boys and I were nearly hysterical.  I have never been so terrified in my life.  Then, to my horror, we stopped at the very top.  Between the wind and terrified screams coming from other riders as the wind rocked the whole wheel to and fro, I thought we were destined for nearly certain death.  The pictures should say it all.  David, who was holding Colin, was desperately trying to calm us all down but to no avail.  Eventually he gave up and opted to take our terrified pictures instead.

Finally, we made our way down.  Everyone getting off was making a frantic scramble for the safety of the grass and their warm coats.  We all looked shell-shocked.  The temperature was dropping so dramatically and everyone was so traumatized that there seemed to be a mass frantic exodus off the fair grounds.  As we made our mile trek back to the car, you could hear the screams still coming from the Ferris Wheel all the way to the exit.

So we are 0-2 as far as the Trail of Lights goes.  This morning I am mainly happy just to be alive and I will never… ever… ever get on a Ferris Wheel again.

P.S.  Here are the shots from our day at the park  🙂