Sizzling Brain: Death Defying Playground Stunts

"Daddy, what is that stuff?" Ashley Olsen shrilly asked. He glanced up at her as he filled a small green flask with whiskey over the kitchen sink.

"It's Jameson. Irish whiskey."

"Is that really bad?" Before her father could answer, he bent down in an attempt to slurp the excess trickling from the rim of the flask's spout.

"It's pretty bad," Ashley's mother chimed in. "We're giving this to a friend."

Mother and father were off to the local irish pub for green beer delivery day, an annual tradition leading up to St. Patrick's Day, or as Ashely calls it, Leprechaun Day. There was talk of making green cupcakes in spirit of the holiday, but Ashley persuaded Mary Kate to agree to snickerdoodles instead.

After cookie baking concluded, we drove to a nearby playground so the girls could expend some pent up energy. I'm always more than willing to spend time outdoors with the girls because they usually get me running through some obstacle course or an army training game which is great exercise.

We arrived at the playground to find it deserted and were happy to have the place to ourselves. The three of us hurried out of the car and pranced to the playground only to nearly tumble into each other after slipping on the thick layer of ice lurking beneath a thin layer of snow. No wonder there were no children playing today; the playground was treacherous.

Leery as I was, the girls were not concerned with a harmless layer of ice and played as they normally would, just occasionally falling to their knees and laughing. Part of the normal playground routine involves a game they invented called "Dare Devil." The format is similar to a game show where one of us will announce the other two contestants as well as the daring feat about the be performed. One of the day's stunts involved sliding across the track ride while avoiding contact with the deep and dangerous puddle of ice water swirling below. Luckily, we all managed to slide across the track without succumbing to the puddle's icy grip. There were other, more death defying tasks that I refused to take part in. As a college kid who relies on my own two feet to get me to class every day, I couldn't risk an injury. Ashley would eventually pull me aside, calling me out as a "scaredy cat" when I refused to take part in some of the more challenging Dare Devil exploits on the icy playground.