Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Six Flags

Last week Steven and I took Joshua and Zach to Six Flags. It was Zach's first time. We had a blast! The kids get free tickets from a reading program at school. So, I bought some tickets for me and Steven, got food vouchers for refillable drinks and popcorn, dropped Elijah off with my sister and headed out to the amusement park.

I must admit, I very much enjoyed roller coasters as a kid. Not once did it ever occur to me that they were not safe or that anything could happen to me. Now, in my old age, I have to admit that it was ALL I was thinking about as I sat next to Zach on the MindBender. (I told my sister where my will was located when I dropped off Elijah.) Here I am, on a ride I've been on many times before, seeing it in a whole new light. Zach, who just turned 6 and is just tall enough to ride these types of rides, sat next to me with giddy excitement. I sat there, holding his hands, and explaining to him that he needed to push his head back against the seat so that he wouldn't flop around and could enjoy the ride more. He said "Okay Mommy" and we were off. The coaster started up the hill very slowly. As we ascended, he was watching the other coasters around the park. We got to the top and virtually stopped (Steven's LEAST favorite part) before heading around the curve to the first loop. We started going faster. All I could do was hold Zach's hand, make sure our lap belt was tight, and pray that God would watch out for us. As we got faster and faster, I was yelling at Zach to hold his head back. Then we started down. Before I knew it we were upside down and whipping around. I was 15 again, but still very aware that my 6 year old was next to me and this was his first ride. We hit the abrupt stop at the end. I was still holding Zach's hand. We pull back under the canopy and get off. I'm thinking that was too much for Zach and that he wouldn't want to do it again. (We had already done the Mine Train and Scream Machine and he liked those. But this one went upside down.) We are walking thru the exit and I asked Zach if he liked it. He looked at me, smiled, and started jumping up and down. "Let's do it again, Mommy! Let's do it again!" We rode it at least 2 more times that day.

What a great day it was! I love Elijah, but it was nice to spend some time with just my 2 older boys without worrying about Elijah's diaper or his whining. I could finally focus on my quickly growing oldest boys with whom I could have an almost adult type conversation. We walked around the park riding rides, drinking Coke, lemonade, Powerade, Sprite and eating bowl after bowl of popcorn. We rode the Mine Train, Scream Machine, Mind Bender, Shake Rattle N Roll, Log Jamboree, Wiley Coyote ride, something like the swings, Monster Mansion, and probably a few more that I can't remember. And, as afraid as I was that Zach would have trouble on the roller coasters, the ride that frightened him the most was....Monster Mansion. Yes, I'm serious. Something about the dark part with scary and unexpected noises. I cracked up laughing when he told me that!

I did, however, discover that I am not as young as I used to be. I still enjoy roller coasters, but I can't take it all day long like I could when I was a kid. I'm just really glad that I was able to enjoy that with my kids. From my memories, my parents didn't ride with us. My mom would ride the Gasp (once I think...and now I'm dating myself) and she rode the Scream Machine once, but never again. We got Daddy on FreeFall (once only!) and the Mind Bender, but that was it. Oh wait! They did ride the log ride. Anyway, I had fun as a kid and I had fun this time. I hope that is a summer tradition that we can continue. I assume Elijah will get a free ticket once he gets to school too. Then the ever dreaded situation of....who's going to ride by themselves?????

1 comment:

Naomi Smith said...

Amazing! I love reading about what you guys have been up to - you write so expressively that I almost felt like i was in the rollercoaster with you. Thanks for sharing, and keep 'em coming! Naomi xxxx