He Just Might be Our Son After All

Image by Neuski via Flickr

I can't believe I didn't mention this earlier. 

Jeffrey and I have always loved roller coasters.  Our kids, on the other hand, have always hated them - or, as Cory said, he was 'frightened' of them.  It's been several years since we've even tried to get them on a roller coaster.  We just figured it wasn't worth the price of admission to take them to an amusement park if they weren't going to ride anything.

Then, the band and choir went to Six Flags at the end of last month.  Cory wasn't really looking forward to it, but part of the trip involved performing, and he couldn't let the band and choir down.  Luckily, through fund raising and Band Booster contributions, the trip didn't really cost much.  Cory was just going to spend the day with his friends.  He was originally hoping to be able to spend the day in the water park, but it was a cool day, and that part of the park wasn't even open yet.

He spent the first part of the day walking around with his friends and holding their stuff while they went on the rides.  But then they started feeling bad because he wasn't riding anything and finally got him on a ride.  After that he rode several, more than once.  He called me as they were boarding the bus to leave the park - to tell me that he rode roller coasters and it was AWESOME.  It turns out that once he actually let himself try it and got on a roller coaster, he loved it.  He just might be our son after all!

and now I really want to go ride some roller coasters.

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This is Me, Screaming

I just learned that SeaWorld is opening a new ride in May. It's called the Manta, and it looks absolutely amazing! You ride laying down, attached to the belly of a giant Manta, so it's like you're actually flying. I love roller coasters, and I've always wanted to fly - so this ride ought to about cover it. It will also have a cool aquarium.

Ted Murphy has a video on his blog from the IZEA exclusive hard hat tour of Manta, and I am seriously going to need to ride this! Hopefully IZEA and SeaWorld can help me out with that, because they've teamed up to create wicked contest called Manta Mania.

One person will win a trip for four to SeaWorld including airfare, hotel and two full days at the park. Not only that… you will get priority access to ride Manta!

Two full days at the park - one to see Shamu and the aquariums and all the rest of what makes SeaWorld the best park in Orlando, and one whole day to ride Manta, over and over and over... Do you see why I'm screaming? Besides the obvious that I always scream on roller coasters because that makes them more fun. I'm screaming, "Pick me! Pick me!"

Run on over to Ted's blog to see how you can enter Manta Mania!

Wednesday in New Jersey

It's been ages since we've been to an amusement park. We have one not too far from here, but somehow we never get around to going. The truth is we tend to do more fun things when we're away from home on vacation. That's pretty typical, I suppose. So, if I want to do something fun, we're going to need to get away, maybe on a family beach vacation to New Jersey. There's a really great-looking park there called Morey's Piers, and I would love to go there.

They have special deals every day of the week, and I've found the perfect deal, for me and Jeffrey, definitely not for the kids, though. Listen to this:

XTREME RIDE WEDNESDAYS - $30

Take a turn on each Xtreme ride, then enjoy unlimited rides on all six roller coasters AND AtmosFEAR.

Oh yeah - unlimited roller coasters! My kids are wimps. They won't want to have anything to do with those roller coasters. Instead they'll want to spend time at the New Jersey waterparks. Morey's Piers has those, too. They have one called Raging Waters that looks like lots of fun.

Morey's Piers looks like a great place for a New Jersey vacation, and you can even book your hotel on their website. I guess I only have two questions - When can we go? and is it still considered a family vacation if we're not actually spending time together? There's so much to do at Morey's Piers, I'm sure we could find something we'd all enjoy doing together, if it's only eating pizza.

Roller Coasters!

I love this view:

Jeffrey and I love Theme Parks, just for the roller coasters. We never go on anything that spins us in circles or waste our time on anything tame. Our kids must belong to someone else, because they don't like roller coasters. Well, actually, my dad never liked roller coasters, so I guess they're related to him. I think it would be so much fun to visit as many theme parks as possible and ride every roller coaster imaginable. Of course, we'd have to leave the kids at home.

The U.K.'s oldest theme park, Pleasure Beach in Blackpool, has some rides that I wouldn't mind trying. There's one called the Pepsi Max Big One - '235ft high and over one mile of twisting and turning at speeds of up to 87mph.' Unfortunately the video was a little choppy, so I didn't get a feel for the speed, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to try it in real life. They have quite a list of what they call Major Rides, and most of them look like fun, but I'm going to have to pass on Bling. It looks like too much spinning for me - that makes me feel sick. They also have a wooden roller coaster that World record roller coaster marathon rider Richard Rodriguez rode for an incredible three months non-stop, day and night! I'd be happy if I could just ride it 3 or 4, or 5 or 6, times in a row without waiting in line again. Do you think they'd let me do that?

They also have Family Rides at Pleasure Beach, but I didn't check them out. Like I said - we go for the roller coasters.