Black diamond

Our friend Luke took this photo. What do you even say about it? It's so cute that I feel like a big ugly ogre by comparison.

After a late afternoon nap failure, we took Lyla to the Hyland Play Area, which locals refer to as Chutes and Ladders.


We spent an hour playing on the age-appropriate apparatuses, at which point I decided Lyla was more than ready for the black diamond.


Really, she was just my excuse to go down it myself. Ignoring the fervent protests of her mother, I hiked Lyla up the mountain of steps, got in line behind some pint-sized adrenaline junkies, and finally hefted myself into the tube of death, Lyla on my legs. It was faster than when I was a kid, probably because my receding hairline makes me more aerodynamic. At the bottom, I turned Lyla around and discovered her grinning and saying "More."

So we did it more. Clearly the child has an appetite for things that are bitchin'. And after watching us for three runs, Julie with her healed neck developed an appetite of her own.


The little blond girl was unharmed.