The trip, part deux

The second day of our trip, we went to an amusement park (but the name will be withheld just in case I have a stalker).

Ivy is a roller coaster fanatic!!!!! When we went to Disney World, she wanted to ride everything and would cry when she was too small to go on something. Daddy and some high school kids went on a coaster in the Animal Kingdom that was made to look like Mount Everest. When she saw it, she pointed and said, "Oooo, lemme ride that!" I tried to explain to her that she was too small, and she threw a fit right there in the middle of the walkway. I didn't understand it at all because I'm not really a roller coaster person.

I had researched this place ahead of time and realized that she was not going to be able to ride any traditional roller coasters (two inches too short!). So, I made a vow to keep the kids in the kiddie section of the park so she wouldn't see what she was missing. We walked straight to Snoopy World (whoops, gave it away!).

Ivy rode the small coaster. Story rode some little beetle-car-looking-things. They both rode these old time cars that went really slow. We got a drink. We rode the Kite Eating Tree which was a mini version of the Drop Zone (and it scared me plenty!). We ate. We hooked up with some high school kids, and suddenly Daddy was gone in the land of grown-up roller coasters. Luckily, Sabrina (a student) stayed with me. We took the kids to the "Mall" section of the park where we rode the Scrambler, the Monster, and she took Ivy on the Spongebob ride.

It got to be 6 p.m. really quickly. My plan was to take the kids back to the hotel by myself. The group met and divided up, kids going back to the hotel, kids staying. I asked the girls if they wanted to go back to the hotel, and was SHOCKED.

"Noooo! No, Mommy! No, Mommy!!!!" I thought they were exhausted! It was hot, sweaty, dirty, and miserable outside. But they were troopers!!!

So we ate and went back and rode everything a second time. And somehow I was talked into riding the Drop Zone.

My plan was to wait in line with the two kids who were riding it and then bail. But, Daddy goaded me into trying it. See, the very first roller coaster I went on was when I was 19 at Hershey Park. I screamed the "Hail Mary" throughout the entire ride. I have since learned to appreciate them, but I have very strict rules about what I would ride, and the Drop Zone was against several of them. It rose up 276 feet and then let you go. I counted 75 seconds between the time you started going up and when you were stopped at the bottom.

The kids were ruthless about me doing this ride. So, I got in the seat when it was my turn. I asked to be let out. They didn't do it. We started going up. I watched for about 100 feet, and the shut my eyes. I realized I forgot to count seconds. I started counting, but now I had no idea when they'd drop us. We got to the top, and I was still not looking. Then, suddenly they dropped us....and all I could think is "This is what it's like to die in a plane crash."

When it was over, I felt pretty good thanks to some heavy adrenaline, but I don;t think I'll do that again.

At the end of the evening, we watched the fireworks. Story didn't like fireworks the past Fourth of July, so I was hoping that another year gone by would soften her up to them. I was excited when I saw that she was sitting in her stroller watching them! I reached into my bag to get my camera for a picture. I turned it on and pointed it at the kids in their strollers. not until I was done taking the picture did I realize that Story was turned around burrowing her head into the back of the stroller. Oh, well, maybe next year.

After not enough sleep, we got back on the bus and headed home. Ivy cried and asked if we could live at Snoopy World.