My kids' back-to-school physicals were joyous events -- not because this summer they didn't need any shots, but because the nurse measuring them confirmed what they've been waiting to hear for a long time. They're finally tall enough to ride a real roller coaster.

No more hopping aboard the ''hunny'' pot and winding oh-so-slowly through the whimsical world of Winnie the Pooh at Walt Disney World. Farewell to carousels, bounce houses and miniature trains. It's time to graduate to g-forces, free falls, loop-the-loops and white-knuckle weightlessness.

Most children reach this rite of passage around first grade, but my girls are among the shortest in their classes. It's been a long wait. At 42 inches, my second-grader, Lucy, 7, is now tall enough to ride the first tier of serious Florida thrill rides -- stomach-churners such as the Scorpion roller coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Splash Mountain at Disney's Magic Kingdom and the Tower of Terror at Disney-MGM Studios.

Her 8-year-old sister, Annie, at 48 inches, has matriculated to an even higher realm, with access to the Gwazi roller coaster at Busch Gardens, Space Mountain at Disney's Magic Kingdom and even the 100-foot-high wooden coaster called the Dania Beach Hurricane that beckons from Boomers along I-95 in South Broward.

But what I learned on the first foray with my young thrill-seekers-in-training is that just because you're tall enough doesn't mean you're automatically ready to test the laws of gravity. And for those of us aging coaster enthusiasts, well, let's just say the ride isn't what you remember. (Did you think I was going to let them go it alone?)

FIRST EXPERIENCE

For their initiation into the ''you must be this tall to ride'' club, I take the girls to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, which is about 4 ½ hours from Miami by car. It seems like a manageable place. My oldest is tall enough to ride 12 out of the 15 major rides. (Three big coasters -- Montu, Kumba and the floorless SheiKra, which involves a 90-degree drop at 70 miles per hour -- are still out of reach. You must be 54 inches, or 4 ½ feet tall, to ride them.)

Plus, the park is near my mother's house. I need adult backup since my husband has to stay home and work.

Along with buying our two-day tickets and booking our hotel, the park's website comes in handy for plotting our visit's strategy. The site lists height restrictions for each ride. Lucy, my youngest, is too short to ride Tanganyika Tidal Wave, Phoenix, Gwazi and Cheetah Chase. We plan on first hitting the rides we can all get on. Then we'll look for milder alternatives for Lucy and Grandma while Annie and I sample the stronger stuff.

On our second day, as we clack-clack together up a 43-foot conveyer belt aboard a four-person fiberglass log on Stanley Falls Flume, I can't help but feel that this moment is about more than moving on to the next level of amusement. The loud speaker squawks a warning: Brace yourself for a jolt at the end of a steep drop. Is this a harbinger of things to come for me as my daughters inch toward puberty?

But for now, we are united in our giddiness, screaming like sorority sisters, reliving each sharp drop and water-soaked moment seconds after stumbling from a ride, comparing notes with the 10-year-old girl in front of us in line, who doles out advice on where to sit on which roller coaster like a bookie with tips on hot horses. Together, we brave the Congo River Rapids, spinning through white water and geysers aboard a giant inner tube. On the Sandstorm, a three-armed orbiter that spins riders in a circular motion, Lucy grimaces and grabs her sister's hand.

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