Darla - How was Valley Fair???!!!!
YUP! I'm back - been going back & forth between catching up here and catching up on work!
I swear, ya take ONE DAY OFF....
Valleyfair was FANTASTIC! My dear friend Sherry V (The rarely-posting faceless avatar) came along with me and the kids, and I think it's safe to say we all had a BLAST! She's as much of a "ride *****" as I am!! Maybe moreso - she goes to Valleyfair several times a year!
My first ride? STEEL VENOM! Holy G-forces, batman! I LOVE IT! We rode that, High Roller (the original roller coaster), the Corkscrew, Extreme Swings (quite possibly STILL my favorite!) Wild Thing, Mad Mouse, Renegade, the Wave, Thunder Canyon (OMG - Travis and Calvin got S.O.A.K.E.D.!!!
) I'm probably forgetting some, but NEXT time, I have to hit Power Tower (Bailey and her friend went on that NINE TIMES!), Chaos, Excalibur (just never got around to it!), and RipTide, if it's hot out. And the Monster. I have to admit, I'm scared to death of the Monster (AKA Octopus). Because it was at Valleyfair, probably 17 years ago, that I was first unable to ride Monster due to my size. One of the TOP humiliating moments of my life. And I admit, I'm still afraid to try! Although I had not one single issue on any ride - but that old tape is pretty well ingrained in my brain, ya know?
The BEST part of the day? Trav's friend, Calvin. What a dear, sweet, FUN boy!!! He wasn't entirely sure about going on the Renegade, and had I remembered just what a vicious roller coaster that is I may NOT have encouraged him to go on it, but he did - and he kept his eyes shut the whole time! Shook pretty good when we got off, but he didn't get sick or anything - he was just scared! Then later in the evening, we all decided we wanted to go on it again, but he wasn't so sure. I kept reminding him that HE DID IT earlier! And that if he opened his eyes, it wouldn't be so horrifying, 'cuz he'd be able to see what was coming and not get slammed around so much! He just wasn't sure... but I told him "Calvin, it's up to you if you want to go on Renegade again or not. But if you do? I'll buy you a souvenier to prove to your family you did it!!!"
So he decided to go for it. And he was pretty nervous all the way through the line... at the last minute, he decided he wanted to ride in my car with me. (I had him ride with Travis the first time, not sure if the lap bar was split or not...). So he sat on my left, asked for my arm, and CLUNG to it like a tree frog! As we went over the top of the first hill, he started saying "I LOVE YOU!! I LOVE YOU!! I LOVE YOU!!!" I patted his arm and told him to open his eyes, and he did - screaming "MY EYES ARE OPEN!!! MY EYES ARE OPEN!!! TRAVIS - MY EYES ARE OPEN!!!" Then he proceeded to lift his left arm up in the air, and soon let go of his death grip on my arm and had BOTH of his arms up in the air!!! FOR THE CAMERA!!! I could not WAIT to get out of that ramp and buy him the picture of himself CONQUERING the RENEGADE!!! But the flippin' photo shop had already closed.
HOW DISAPPOINTING!!! So he picked out a Renegade basketball instead, which I was only too happy to buy for the lil' trooper! Then as we dropped him off in front of his house at about 10:30 last night, he turned around and THANKED ME for encouraging him to ride Renegade again! Dang, if that didn't top the whole day!!!
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Imperfect does not = unsuccessful
DarlaDee
What a cool mom you are! I got a little misty when you got to the part where he was scared and telling you he loved you! and then when he was screaming that his eyes were open... I LOVE those kind of kid moments. Glad you had so much fun!
Hugs ~ Lisa
Well behaved women rarely make history!
305/296/147/150 159 pounds down 3 lbs below goal!
Highest weight/day of surgery/current weight/goal weight