Six Flags Great America

Well, this weekend we decided to give the kids a nice surprise by taking them to Six Flags Great America. We left since Saturday at noon so that we could stay the night out there and go early in the morning, without having to wake up at 6 am. The original plan was to go to the Bristol renaissance fair in WI, but they don't open until July! (bummer!). Noni & Pappa took care of Connor for the weekend, so we could do everything with the kids. That was awsome!

So, we change plans. Brian takes the kids to the movies at Gurnee Mills, while I stay at the hotel and (wouldn't you guess it???) SCRAP of all things! I take my 8 x 8 kit by Lisa Bearnson that I bought on (you guessed again!) QVC (now, am I THAT predictable???). Anyways, as I open it and start scrappin' my little heart away, I notice there's no pages 10 & 11. WHAT??? I look again and again. Nothing. Maybe I'm pmsing, because that REALLY made me unhappy and uncomfy. But anyways, after a few hours of peace and quiet, the kids come back and we all go out for dinner.

So next day we all wake up, go for breakfast and then head to Great America. NO LINES, no traffic. PERFECT DAY. Of course, we can't even think about the water park but, hey, we'll get to go on EVERYTHING we want to. So we get in, and Bugs, Daffy, and Sylvester are around, ready to take pics. As I take out my camera, I start clicking away. 14 pictures later (which took me all 5 seconds to reach), the message: OUT OF MEMORY. WHAAAAAT????? NO!!!!! I'm so upset. I was sooo careful planning everything. Charged the battery. I'm SURE I took the memory out to download pictures, it can't be out of memory. Yup, I did. It's still sitting in the computer at home.

So, we buy a new memory card for a small fortune that would've been a king's ransom in a third world country, I'm sure. And then, fun! I am absolutely terrified of heights, so it is difficult for me, but I have to do this for the kids. Coco is sooo brave, she wanted to go on the scariest things, but she couldn't get into everything that she wanted. That was my perfect excuse to NOT go on a couple of rides that make me shake with fear. We are all having such a great time. And then, I ask them, "Hey, let's go to the Water ride, that waterfall thingy!". Everybody is happy to go. Now, I must say, the temp was probably in the 60s, and there's a nice breeze, but at times it feels a little chilly. Well, it's been AGES since I've been to Six Flags, so all I remember is that you really get soaked if you stand on the bridge. You'll be fine if you're riding in the cart.

WRONG! We're all soaked beyond believe, since we, of course, were on the first row. So, here we are, trying to get air-dried. We go to eat, and pay the most expensive $60 dollars worth of CRAP. One hot dog, one slice of pizza, one order of what they said were buffalo hot wings, and another of what they said was Chinese, and one order of cheese fries. Cesar lays on the ground and tries to dry with the warmth of the sun in the concrete (eh, hello there! There is no sun, son, didn't you get the memo???) while Coco chooses the more entertaining way of throwing bread crums from his hot dog to the birds and then chasing them. Not working.

So we decide to go out to the van and change. Only we didn't really expect it to be soooo cold, so we all have to layer t-shirts and socks and stuff. So now, besides being weird, we also LOOK WEIRD, thank you very much! We went back and really kept having a good time, until dad finds (after searching all day) the Looney Toons Lodge. It's a place with thousands of soft balls that you can shoot at each other. ALL the dads are on the guns, with their kids (just to pretend, some are really not even close to them). All of us moms are holding sweaters, trying to find a bench to sit that is NOT in their own kids shooting zone, otherwise we're all screwed.

That goes on for a long, LONG while. I tell Brian I'm going out to wait for them, but he doesn't get the hint. Gotta go back, and tell him GET OUT OF HERE NOW. After making my point clear, he leaves me with Coco at this kid town, and goes with Cesar to the cool games. By now, my legs are numb, my feet hurt, my back hurts, even my hair hurts, for crying out loud! And Coco goes time after time after time on the same ride, mind you.

She starts making friends everywhere (Can I sit with you? What's your name? I'm Coco Marie Riordan, and that's my mom, Paula). Then, she comes out of one of those games with a little girl in tow, ready for the next ride. I'm confused. "Where's your mommy"? She doesn't know. I'm really afraid that Nicole will be the youngest person in record to ever be charged with kidnapping, specially when the mom shows up. She was distracted with the other 10 kids and the hubby, and didn't see her girl coming out. I try to be friendly, but she just keeps screaming "Get your but down here". I just turn around and graciously leave. I wanted to say something back, but I saw she was a lot bigger than me, plus she had a whole soccer team, they could take me down in no time.

The new friend

Sooo... Finally the hubby comes back with Cesar, and we all get going. We stop to eat before we get on the road, and I realize Brian is soooo sunburned. WHAT? There was no sun at all! Then I touch my face, and sure enough, it's hurting. I scratch my nose and my forehead, and boy, they're hurting!

We all bet that Coco would be asleep by 5, 15 and 20 minutes, but actually, I fell asleep before we even got on the road. Coco outlasted us all, including my driving hubby. Then we get Connor and head home sweet home. As we get here, I told Brian, "Please, don't bring anything from the car, I'll get everything tomorrow. And today, I couldn't even move! My body aches terribly, my neck is absolutely killing me, I gained about 10 pounds with all the grease I ate, and there are still both the suitcase and my scrappin' bag in the back of my van. I worked for what seemed like the LONGEST 4 hours of my life, went to take a nap, woke up at 4:30, picked up some groceries, picked up the kids, came and made dinner. Now the kids are asleep, but that's exactly what I'll be doing in two minutes. Maybe tomorrow I'll get to the car. Maybe.

Right now, I'm stunned with the realization that I'm no longer in Kansas.