Six Flags, Summer 2012

As a reading award at school, Gage earned a free ticket to Six Flags! I was so proud of him for putting in the work. Gage and I waited for the perfect today to visit the amusement park. Little did we know (because we didn't read the fine print), Gage's ticket expired August 12th. Whoops! But, we were already there (August 17th) and we were not turning back!

Gage had a blast! I rode several rides with him, but some that he wanted to try---I just couldn't stomach. So, he rode them solo. What a brave boy!

(The Sombrero I rode with him once, but the "let's go again" just wasn't happening with this mama.)

(If I rode that, I would surely vomit. Gage gave it a mixed review. He watched it go several times before he insisted that we ride it. I absolutely could not, and I wasn't so sure about letting him ride it alone. But, he did, and he kind of liked it....) Gage gave his ratings to lots of other rides too....

Let's see.... La Vibora: used to be called the Avalanche Bobsled. I loved it years ago, and had a blast on it this year too.... until we got stuck on it. That's right, folks. I've been going to Six Flags for as long as I can remember! At least once a year. Never have I been stuck on any ride....until this year. We were only stuck for about 15 minutes, and they were super attentive to bring us our drinks and water if we wanted.... Very attentive. I will have to say though: 15 minutes just sitting with the sun beating down on you makes for a very loooooong 15 minutes.

As soon as the ordeal was over and we were back in the loading/unloading area for the ride, Gage said, "Can we go again?!"
Ummm....no. Not right now.

Gage LOVED Aquaman. (It used to be called something else too, but I forget the previous name...). First you ride the ride and I did that once with him. Naturally, he insisted to go again & again. Because there were no others waiting in line, they were letting him (& others) go as many times in a row as they liked. It was AWESOME. Somehow we picked the perfect day to go to Six Flags.

After the ride, you exit and go stand on the bridge---waiting for those riding after you to come down and create this massive wave to get you soaked while on the bridge. (This Mommy had to opt out of that experience. Been there, done that, and it wasn't so great.) Needless to say, Gage loved it.

What else did we do? We rode the cars....

We rode lots of other things too, but I didn't happen to snap pictures at every ride.... I did snap a picture of the absent lines!

Gage played a few of the little pay-&-play games (because $111 for the two of us to get in certainly shouldn't cover EVERYTHING)... He is so competitive and won every time. I couldn't believe it.

We had a very mono-chromatic lunch.... I didn't see a salad-selling place anywhere, and we got front row parking, so I wasn't about to leave & come back. Brown lunch---he we come.

Other fun pictures from the day....

In the above photo, Gage is standing by the "This here door don't work" sign. Oh my goodness, that sign drove me nuts. Gage is learning to read, so he kept repeating that phrase over and over. I had to tell him that it's improper English, bad grammar, etc. He repeatedly read it aloud just to jack with me. He knew it was getting under my skin. Mentally I flashed forward ten years and started thinking about how much fun he's going to have jacking with me in the teen years. Pour the drinks now....

Moving on!

I saw this cut out. It was a part of the whole Six Flags history theme.
How freaking scary is this!? It's like Mrs.Pac-Man meets Baby Jane.
Fah-reaky!

(You can't see that little girl's face, but I'm fairly certain that half a second after the photo was snapped she turned on her heels and ran off screaming and crying. I can see it now.)

My major complaint about the park (aside from all costs involved): The Pink Thing. (...not to be confused with the Blue Tang in Belize....hahahaha)...

All joking aside...this is a serious grievance. Do you see the pink thing pictured above? (To the left of the words "Pink Things.") That is the color and shape of the Six Flags original. I can practically taste it now. I freaking loooooove the pink things. And, at $1 each, they are a delightfully affordable frozen treat.

THIS is the pink thing they served us:

THAT is not a pink thing. Granted, it's pink---but it's not a "thing." THAT is a light pink colored push pop. AND----it doesn't taste ANYTHING like the perfect Six Flags original Pink Thing. This push pop just tasted like pink sweet cream, and I swear I may have tasted a hint of rose. It was all wrong and it went into the trash.

Six Flags----why mess with perfection? WTF? Bring back the original, or at the very least change the sign. I'm just sayin'....

For $16, you can get a drink at Six Flags.
That's right. $16. I'm kind of torn on this. Granted---you get to keep the cup. (Big stinkin' flip. It's hand washable and that's a pain. It's super tall and doesn't fit easily in the cabinets. It, in itself, is a pain in my ass.) The cup is refillable at the park for free. That's the cup's saving grace. So, if you think about it---we probably filled it up 4 times. I'd pay $4 per drink that size at the park. So, while I initially freaked about the price, it was probably worth it in the end.

....and although the day cost about 2x what I expected, it was SO.MUCH.FUN.

Gage and I stayed until the park closed.
Here we are at closing time, after a day full of fun!

And a few minutes later...

Sweet boy, I love you so much. I'm so thankful that I get to do these things with you. I remember my mommy taking a day off from work at least once every Summer, and taking us to Six Flags. We always had so much fun, and now as a Mommy taking my own child to Six Flags---I see it differently. 

It's expensive. The rides aren't nearly as fun as they were when you were a kid. It's hotter as an adult. Getting soaking wet and walking around as you dry is no longer all that fun or refreshing. You'll see. 

And yet----I'm still so thankful that we had the day we had. Watching you get excited about things and grab my hand, pulling me toward this or that....begging to ride something again & again....It's all so very perfect, and I love the memories. 

xoxox

Mommy