Can I ride the pony?

When I was much much younger my grandma used to read me a book called Golden Silver Wind, which I can't find anymore but it was the story about two friends who shared an imaginary horse of the same name. At the time it was my favorite book, and like many little girls I had a hefty imagination. Sometimes when I visited she take me down to a local shopping center which had a very large carousel built inside of it, I would grab the most attractive horse I could find and she would be my 'Golden Silver Wind' for the ride.

As you can imagine a carousel in a mall doesn't make a lot of money, so they began shortening the rides and jacking up the prices. I also started to get older and wasn't much interested in fake pony rides with my grandparents looking on.

The teen years are the most ridiculous part of life.

The shopping center is doing very poorly, half the shops are closed and the other 45% are brand less stores that sell novelty items. But the carousel is still there, a landmark for the area. It's 2$ for a ride that last about a minute, but as a promotional deal for Santa we got a free ride.

Myself, Heather, Carrie, Becky

Of course I made sure to grab the prettiest horse!

We were there to get a picture with Santa. I know, another one? This one was for Heathers private collection, she'll take a picture with Santa about 5 times a year with different groups of friends, but that's explains why I'm dressed so casual. It also explains why we had to go to the cheap mall, 5 Santa pictures a year can really make a dent in your wallet.

Heather had a good time at least!

A special thanks to Anissa who did not join us on our ride and instead held our stuff and became our camera woman!