Triple the Fun

It ended up being a pretty awesome three-day weekend.  After a long pandemic stretch where days like this were unheard of, sometimes it was downright surreal...even if there were constant reminders that the pandemic isn't actually over and we're merely doing our best to cobble together much-needed time with our people while doing what we can to minimize risk.  Throughout the last year and a half, so many people have insisted we need to learn how to live with this virus.  In many ways I hate to admit they're right--but I think we can only truly say that now after doing our best to contain it for so long and essentially failing.  I believe we had to do what we did initially to buy some time, attempt to eradicate it, and protect who we could until the science and medicine could figure out how to make things easier.  Hindsight is always 20/20 and maybe we should have done lockdowns and other things differently, but it's becoming ever clearer now that this virus is going to continue to evolve and very little is going to stop it.  Vaccines did well for a bit until the delta variant showed up, but now we can't rely on that either.  I'm hoping people will learn to embrace masks if it means we can keep things open and continue to socialize safely, but so many are still resistant to the one thing we have that can reliably make a difference for the vaccinated and unvaccinated alike.  It's disheartening to be here again, particularly a few weeks before school with the south's schools already showing what a train wreck this year might be, but regardless--this past weekend felt like a prime example of trying to live our lives to the fullest in the midst of a pandemic once again.  

Saturday was another wedding on Craig's side, this time for another cousin.  We came into town a little early to get some time with my brother and his kids that had come into town the night before, and (unlike last time) have a reasonable amount of time to get ready.  For me that involved setting up inflatable mattresses, dressing, and curling my hair while on an extended family reunion Zoom call!  We miss that annual picnic, but hopefully next year.

The ceremony and reception were both in one spot.  It was a bit of a non-traditional ceremony, from a rather awkward officiant to the bride and groom's nearly three-year-old son getting a little rambunctious!  But the bride was as stunning as I expected--with a gown that was a perfect mix of sexy, sparkly, and romantic.  I'd have expected nothing less of her!  And as for us, it was nice to get another evening away.   

One of the tough parts of the wedding was COVID worry.  I mean, cases have been on the rise with a variant that's highly transmissible, primarily indoors.  Indoor mask wearing is recommended, but there are no mandates at this point, so pretty much everywhere you go the majority of people are unmasked.  And particularly at an event like this, it was weird.  We didn't know most people so we had no idea of everyone's vaccine status.  But everything was indoors (unlike the last wedding where most socializing was outside), so we opted to mask up.  We were the only ones.  We wore them when we first came in, and I wore mine every time I left the table.  We mostly kept them off at the table and in chatting with vaccinated relatives (including two who also had COVID previously), since it was a smaller group and we knew their status.  But I'll take the awkwardness over being part of a super-spreader event any day.  

Unfortunately, last year the bride had a bit of a falling-out with some of the family over Facebook, so it meant that most of the usual extended family wasn't there.  It ended up just being Craig's parents, his brother and our sister-in-law, and two other sets of aunts and uncles, plus the mother and sister of the bride.  The groom had a handful of older relatives on his side and beyond that probably 95% of the attendees were late-20-somethings.  By the end of the night, I officially felt old, like all of those older relatives you see at every wedding who sit in the corner and smile at the "kids" on the dance floor.  There were lots of short, tight dresses, body art, shirtless guys, a couple exposures (!), and crazy dancing!  And you know, I was actually perfectly fine feeling old--I'm just not built for that stuff anymore!

It was an interesting night back at the house, with all four kids and three adults making pizza and playing Farkle and pool.  It sounded like they had a good night--probably helped that Carter won at Farkle!  With John's family taking over our usual digs, we had to set up shop in the basement.  We brought along two air mattresses that seemed to keep their air, along with Carter's crib mattress that usually lives under our bed.  We figured at the very least he'd sleep well!  I can't say I slept great, but I definitely rested pretty decently--enough to have a pretty good day Sunday and not fall asleep driving home in the evening!

We started the day with church (again, we were the only masked ones--but again, no thanks on the super-spreader), and then after lunch the boys wanted to go to the outlets so they dropped me off to see my godson!  They were in town for the Billy Joel concert the previous night (that seemingly half of WNY went to), and it was lovely to get some time to hang out, catch up, and play.  Mason is so interactive now!  I brought him some little stuff saved from my kids, some of which didn't sell at the garage sale but was worth keeping--stacking cups, an Oball car, a stuffed Snoopy, a wooden caterpillar rattle, a little wooden bus, and a cute "Jesus Loves Me" book that we had a duplicate of.  That's just the start of my stash that will be doled out at appropriate stages!  He was such a sweet boy and it was great to see him sitting up and rolling and pushing up...and flashing that adorable smile (and a few teeth)!

After the boys picked me up, we headed to my aunt's house for a picnic my cousin's wife planned just because John and the kids were in town.  The weather was perfect and it was a nice opportunity to see family, including another cousin's wife and daughter that I haven't seen in at least a couple years due to COVID and not having our mutual limited visits match up well.  I got to meet my cousin's new baby, Lincoln, who's just around a month old.  His big sister Emmy loved my niece Kate!  It was just nice to see people and hang out outside where we felt most comfortable.  I really appreciated the time with John's kids, and Max and Carter played particularly well together, sometimes along with Jacob.  Max and Carter also got the job of hosing off the trays we used for dinner!  They'd get formally washed later, but this was helpful for transporting them relatively cleanly.  It was pretty funny to watch. 

We made a quick pitstop on the way home (had to check for something at a different Kohl's while I had 30% off), then got on the road.  We had to get some good rest because Carter and I had a big day on Monday!  It was time for his first trip to Darien Lake--and my first trip in probably 20 years!  Originally we were going to go on Tuesday, but the weather took a turn late last week and Tuesday had thunderstorms in the forecast.  So I rearranged my entire work schedule to do Monday instead.  Unfortunately it meant Craig couldn't go because of unchangeable work commitments, which then made Jacob not want to go.  Jacob isn't a big fan of rides (he's always done fine at Seabreeze but insists he doesn't like them, and Darien has a lot more thrill rides) and he was relying on Craig to be his key to a full day at the waterpark.  He waffled back and forth for days, right up until the last moment.  Eventually my recommendation was that if he felt he couldn't be patient and nor complain while we went on rides, he should stay home.  So he did.  After all of that switching around, we woke up to Monday having a 40% chance of rain, rather than the 4% it had for days.  Seriously?!  We forged ahead anyway--no choice since I pre-purchased the tickets at a discount--and each drove from our respective homes to meet at the park.  

I feel like I'm very out of amusement park mode.  I mean, we did Seabreeze a couple years in a row before COVID hit, but that's such a different park--smaller, mostly chill rides.  I was in a much better groove 20 years ago when I went to five amusement parks in two summers.  I had it all down--proper footwear, proper timing for bathing suits and board shorts to properly hit up waterparks and water rides, how to eat to maintain energy but not get sick on crazy rides.  But now I'm old and need a Dramamine just to ride most stuff, and coordinating all that other stuff felt overwhelming.  But I ended up with what I thought would work, and off we went.

Going back to Darien Lake brought back a ton of memories.  I went there a couple times right around college, but not only did we usually go once a summer when I was a kid, but we had season passes for a summer when I was 11 going on 12 (I think).  That was amazing, and I have so many memories from that summer.  Having not been there much since I was a teenager, a lot of those memories flew back whenever we passed by something that marked that season pass summer for me--the Fascination game parlor, the old waterpark location, the former spots of old favorite rides.  The Viper was my first big rollercoaster when I was nine, the now-gone Ranger pushed me to learn how to handle being upside-down, and the waterpark was probably some of the best family bonding we had.  The whole day was a constant back-and-forth of, "This new stuff is awesome" and "Man, I miss that."

We decided to start with a newer ride (for us), the Motocoaster.  It's sort of like a wild mouse with its crazy turns, but you're riding a motorcycle!  It also has a launch rather than a lift hill.  We unsuccessfully tried to get Max to go on, but Carter, Kate, and I ended up riding twice in a row so the person staying with him could still ride.  It was deceptively fast, especially at the launch!  Carter looked a little nervous at first, probably because it was more intense than we thought, but it was a great start that left us all laughing at how fun and crazy it was! 

Next up we went on the very tall Sky Screamer!  My mom and I loved the one at Fantasy Island a few years ago, so seeing this one (which is much taller) was exciting!  Carter, Kate, my mom and I all went on, and John and Max headed to the antique cars instead.  

Carter was a bit nervous and a little quiet for the beginning of the ride because of the height, but ended up liking it!

I would have taken pictures from up top, but the breeze was so bad at 35mph that I didn't dare try to pull out my phone!  But the views were lovely!  Back on the ground (ever-so-slightly dizzy but not bad), we headed back to the cars to catch Max's driving abilities. 

After that we tried to ride the Viper but hit it just as everyone was coming out of the line after it closed for some reason.  Then we found out the looping Rolling Thunder (the Ranger's replacement) and Tantrum, one of the newer coasters I desperately wanted to ride, were both closed.  In fact, a lot of stuff didn't look much like it was running.  We were constantly eyeing up coaster lift hills and got a little nervous when they all seemed quiet.  A bit dejected at all the closed stuff, we grabbed horrifically overpriced food (seriously, over $15 for just nachos and a pretzel?!) and ate while watching boats come down Shipwreck Falls, the boat ride with the giant splash and the big bridge.  Always hilarious!

Then we decided to head off to the water park before the rain hit, and spent a solid three hours there.  No pictures from there, but we had a ton of fun!  The boys spent some time at the big climbing gym/spray park/wading pool area, where Max eventually worked up courage to ride a smaller water slide.  In the meantime, Kate and I went to the racing slides with my mom.  We laughed a lot just getting into the cold water, then surviving the deluge at the end and finding out from the lifeguard that a lot of women have wardrobe malfunctions there!  Then my mom and brother switched out and we decided to go to the Tornado, which looked like a funnel laying on its side.  It looked innocent enough until you realized that the chute that sends you into the funnel was a very steep one!  I was used to the super long, super fast tunnel on the toilet bowl one at Seabreeze, but this was a whole new ballgame!  We grabbed a quad tube, which was a nightmare to get up top, had to wait a while while gradually hoisting the tube up stairs, and finally made it to the top.  Pretty sure I've never screamed with so much real terror on a water ride, as I ended up going backward down the chute!  It shot us into the funnel so far up the wall I thought we were going to flip!  We got doused with waves as we rocked back and forth (still very high) a couple times, then finally shot out the bottom.  We were laughing hysterically!  When we made it back to my mom, she decided she wanted to try it, and on the way I came across Carter who also did, so my mom, Kate, Carter, and me headed back over!  Getting the raft up was even worse that time (apparently my brother is pretty strong), but eventually we made it.  Once again, it was a pretty overwhelming ride (and the new riders were pretty shocked!), but we all loved it.

We moved on to a set of more traditional tube slides and waited forever for one ride--before we even got tubes!  But Max rode, which was fun, even if he said it was just okay.  Then Kate and Carter decided they wanted to ride the body tube slides where the floor drops out from under you.  I was a little nervous considering you get deluged at the end, but after a long wait where the rest of us just hung out and people watched, they came down pretty exhilarated!  Carter is insisting I ride whenever we go back!  We finished off our time with another long wait for the slide with round, four-person rafts.  We had to split into two groups of three--Carter, Kate, and me, and John, my mom, and Max.  We went first, and as our raft sloshed high on the first turn wall, we cringed a little because the chill-looking ride was a bit more active than we expected and Max was hoping for calm!  We watched them come down after us, and while he wasn't too sure about it, he made it through and even sort of liked it!  Overall I think we did a good job of pushing his boundaries and trying to teach him that scary things can be okay.

We decided that was enough and we were ready for rides again, and headed back to change.  As we exited the changing rooms and met back at the locker, we felt drops of rain.  We checked our phones and sure enough, there was a big blob of green rain on the radar.  It looked like it was going to hit soon and continue all night until closing time, which was a huge bummer since we hadn't ridden the big stuff yet.  We rushed off to try to ride Ride of Steel, the 200-foot-tall coaster that's among my all-time favorites.  Carter was too short to ride, so my mom took him and Max to a couple rides, and John, Kate, and I braved the hour wait.  It took forever, especially once we realized there was a Fast Pass system, but it was well worth it!  Well, my brother might disagree since the last adjustment on the lap restraint ended up being rather painful for him, but Kate and I couldn't help but laugh at the noise he made!  We had so much fun, and Kate loved her first big coaster!  Nothing quite like a crazy drop and 73 mph!  I had forgotten how much I missed that rush! 

Ride of Steel...so high!

Somehow it was still only dripping when we left, so then we headed for the Boomerang to get Kate and Carter their first looping coaster experience.  I originally didn't want to ride the Boomerang at all.  That one and Mind Eraser are crappy Vekoma coasters that rock your head, and I swore I wouldn't ride them at any park ever again, after one like Mind Eraser at Canada's Wonderland gave me what I swear was a mild concussion.  I had the worst headache for the rest of the day after that one.  But with it being a big first for Kate and Carter, and after my mom opted out, I decided I'd brave it.  The rain picked up a little while we were in line, but still nothing terrible.  In looking at the radar later, it was almost like the rain was dissipating as it hit our area--maybe a miracle, as I was praying we'd get to finish out the day!  And sure enough, we did--it never rained any harder than a steady sprinkle despite the radar blob consistently moving toward us.  Anyway, Boomerang was predictably rough--my head hurt for a few minutes after--but Carter and Kate enjoyed it and were very excited to have finally gone through loops--both forward and backward!

Boomerang in the background

By that point we were all too starving to fit in another ride before what we thought was the inevitable deluge of rain, so we headed off to find food.  This food was even more overpriced--$9 for a slice of pizza!!  It was insane, but we had to eat.  However, we ate carefully so we'd be ready to ride the now re-opened Viper!  My mom decided to ride this one since she'd done it so many times before...never mind it had been 20 years or more!  It was a bit of a wait, but not terrible.  We took an aunt-niece selfie to kill time...

Overall it was just disappointing that it seemed every line in the park moved more slowly than it needed to--because the coasters only had one train, they didn't do single rider calls, and the waterslides had very limited tubes.  Anyway, the Viper track is basically seared in my memory--partly because it was my first big coaster (eyes closed the entire ride and all brought on by a bribe for a Skipper Teen doll!) and partly because I've probably ridden it more than any other coaster.  It was fun sharing it with Carter, though, going down the familiar small hill at the top of the lift hill with the anticipation of the bigger one that goes right into a loop and a heart loop!  It was a little rough, much like the Boomerang but not as bad (although my mom banged her ears pretty good), but the kids had fun.  Kate liked Ride of Steel better, of course, but she was glad she did it.  I think Carter was more excited by Boomerang because the lift hills there made it seem faster, but he liked it, too.

The Viper!

Time was running really short with the park closing at 7pm (stupid pandemic), so we headed toward the front of the park with the goal of trying to hit up one more ride.  It was one more walk down memory lane for me.  While some parts of the park were almost unrecognizable with new rides or missing ones, the one thing that stood out most was the remains of the Giant Wheel.  This was once the tallest ferris wheel in North America and was one of my favorites going back to a time when I didn't ride a lot of rides.  That was one I could always do.  It had amazing views, and I especially loved it when the park lights came on.  Not only was the night view cool from above, but the wheel itself was covered in lights and did all sorts of patterns as it spun.  This year when the park opened, all the gondolas were off and eventually a sign about its retirement was posted.  It's sad, though I do hope they decide to replace it with something cool.

For our last rides, the boys and Kate went to the bumper cars, and my mom and I went to the drop tower.  One of my favorite amusement park memories took place 23 years ago when we went to Cedar Point and they'd just installed a massive 4-legged drop tower.  Two legs shot you up fast, two legs took you up slow and dropped you.  My mom and I decided to go on it, not too sure about it, but intrigued.  Cedar Point had Demon Drop which was another freefall, but that one was a little harsh and this seemed a bit gentler...aside from the crazy height and speed.  Watching faces of riders returning to the ground, we got a little nervous, and I'm pretty sure we screamed like crazy when we dropped--it was incredible and scary at the same time!  But it definitely felt like a victory when we were done.  This one was a lot smaller, but same concept.  We got in line just before they shut it off, and we waited just long enough that the bumper car crew was able to make it over before we went.  We did the math and realized that there weren't enough people for two full rides, so she ducked under the chain and joined us (someone else did it right before--we felt less guilty after that).  We actually got on as three singles on the second to last run, and it was simply lovely!  This one shoots you up quick and then you freefall, which is actually a bit less of a shock to the system than a full drop.  It still has that crazy freefall feeling on the first drop, but just not quite as terrifying since you're already in motion.  My mom said she could have done that all day!

After that it was time to go.  I snapped a shot of the lovely LED-lit Sky Screamer across the lake (which was actually the first ride we spotted from the road that morning) and headed to grab our locker contents and say our goodbyes.  

It was hard to say goodbye to the kids knowing it would be a long time before we saw them again, but we had a great day of memories to tide us over.  It was so great seeing them, particularly after such a long time and a lot of growing up over these past 20 months!  They were switched to their mom's possession yesterday to spend time with her family in Massachusetts, but we'll see my brother one more time before he goes home Sunday.  My goal in a couple years (once COVID gives us enough of a break to do Disney first) is to travel out their way.  We can visit, show the boys the Pacific Northwest, and I can finally get to Chihuly Gardens and Glass!

Carter and I were beat, but we couldn't resist one more stop on the way home.  Icees are usually my amusement park must-have, but because they were so expensive in the park, we totally stopped at the gas station on the way home to get $1 Freezes!  I'll take two bucks over $14 any day!  We also had a pretty sunset on the drive, too.  

 

Carter has been talking about the trip almost non-stop since we got home, to the point I had to scold him for how he was talking to Jacob about not going.  I think he takes a lot of pride in being braver than Jacob, and since he's not used to being in any position of superiority over him, he's definitely milking it a bit.  I've been doing a lot of internet research on height restrictions at other parks, and I discovered that Carter is actually tall enough to ride my all-time favorite coaster, Millennium Force at Cedar Point.  Despite Ride of Steel being 54", Millennium Force is only 48" despite being 100 feet higher and 20+ mph faster!  I'm not sure how that works, but it's pretty shocking.  Even still, the tallest height restrictions everywhere are 54", so considering he's 51" now, we either have to hope for one heck of a growth spurt, or just start making plans now for two summers ahead to hit up Cedar Point before I'm too old to do this stuff!  I'd also like to do Hersheypark, which tends to be on some travel basketball routes, and hit up Kennywood Park in Pittsburgh again, too.  That one's probably a bit more family friendly (even Craig did okay on a couple coasters there years back), so maybe one of these summers.  I think I have created a bit of a monster--and reawakened the beast in myself, as well!  But it was a really great day after two solid days and I'm so thrilled we had that time to make some memories.