We all survived....

except these little fellas!

(I think the gummy bear vitamins lost the fight while waiting for us to return from the water park last Tuesday!)

Day 1/Sunday afternoon:
* Left for Arlington to get settled at our hotel and enjoy the pool before meeting our friends for dinner.
* Ate at yummy Uncle Julio's with 4 other families and 1 of Curtis' good buddies. Kuddos to the restaurant for seating (they actually saved us 2 tables 30 minutes before everyone arrived just because I let them know we were coming!) and managing all NINETEEN of us! We divided up the kids b/t the guy's and girl's tables which meant some much needed catching up and laughing with my girls!

Day 2/Monday am & afternoon:
* Memo to Six Flags OVER TEXAS: Texas summers are HOT and not opening the park until 10:30 am (10 on w.e.'s) makes no sense to me!
* Our hotel location allowed us to walk back and forth to the park. LaQuinta Inn & Suites puts out a kickin' buffet breakfast, so we ate before heading over.
* My dtr was all super-pumped to rides everything, but lost her courage once there. My son was a lost cause for most rides the early part of the day. He was pretty cranky and moody, but I think he had a little fun.
* We stayed hydrated by purchasing one of those large cups you can refill all day long for free. Totally worth it! Especially since we only bought one and shared among the four of us. Cheap? Who me?! I watched several large families buy one for everyone in their family and didn't quite get it, but I am sure they had a plan.
* As most of you know, strategic planning of water rides is critical when at an amusement park on the hottest day of the year up to that point. Aquaman ROCKED! The boys were babies about getting too wet, but the girls maxed it out! We got soaked on the ride and then chose to stand on the bridge and get TOTALLY DRENCHED by the next boat to come along! LOVED IT! It made the day so much easier to handle!
* Which brings me to a crucial question. Who are these people that can manage to look really good all day long in that environment? Bleck! They must be aliens!

Heading into the park that morning


Right after our first ride together as a family. The Gunslinger. This is probably what blew the day for my son. Since he did not know what to expect, he obliged. Almost immediately after it started, I heard him say that he was done and wanted off. Too late, buddy! I kept looking back at him and almost peed my pants laughing. His whole body was tense and he just kept leaning into the ride. Don't worry, I encouraged him like a good momma, but his look was still so funny! You can see her exhilaration and his body language is all about getting outta that swing!!


Taking a pic of the family as I awaited my first time on Superman! I had to keep swallowing to make my heart stay in my body, but it was fun!!


The classic car ride



A nice slow train ride for little man


Meeting friends


This was taken right after the big water ride that he threw a fit about. That is him choosing to stand under a shower while I get our lunch! Crazy kid!


Awaiting the 3D movie ride to start. This was one of our longest waits and I didn't think the ride was worth the long, hot wait. Kids enjoyed it.


Scooby Doo is one of his favorites


This teacup ride could have been good, but it was later in the day and every part of the ride was too hot to touch. Plus spinning doesn't really agree with little man.


No worries here



Day 2/Monday evening:
* We left the park from 5:30-7ish to rest a bit at the hotel. I am not sure why, but it made a big difference for my son. After we went back to the park, he was a bit braver. We found a section of rides we somehow missed earlier (despite being in the kiddie section) and both of the kids enjoyed all it had to offer.
* At the end of day, we hurried the kids up to Judge Roy Scream before either had a chance to run away. Thank goodness for no lines! He pretty much hid his head in my arm the whole time. Thankfully, she loved it and rode it with me 2 more times!! Sadly, I didn't get to update my thrill meter by riding any of the other big ones. But maybe that was a good thing because JRS seemed to beat me up pretty bad.
* I reached my quota of people watching while there. Jeez! Are some of these people for real?!! I have never seen so many grown (and frankly, over-aged!) women sport the 6th grade homemade halter top! You know the one. Where you pull the bottom of your shirt up and through the collar. Yuck! I saw more over-exposed thighs and bellies than I care to recall.
* But I will recall one for you! Standing in line with my dtr, I was behind a young lady with little clothing on. Tattooed on her back right above her backside was a lovely pair of eyes (really, the artwork was great!) with "Slap Dat A**" right above the eyes. You know I wanted to, but I didn't really want to have to explain to my 6 yr old dtr why mommy needed medical attention!
* I wore my first fanny pack to SF. I must have stood adjusting it in front of the mirror forever! Luckily, it was a thin one with less bulk! I survived! And I saw a great giraffe-print one on some lady at SF! Gotta find it!

Oops, it would have been nice if I had remembered to turn this pic before posting it! Oh well! This is on our way back after resting and refreshing ourselves with some new clothes.


Like many of you, I remember doing this one with my little brother back in the day. I think we were close to the same age as well. Little man LOVED "controlling" his own set of wings!



We rode the small ferris wheel together, then the kids wanted to do the honey pots. It is really hard to tell from the pic, but she is pretty much maxing out the spin potential while he is just tolerating the mild spin from the ride!


I am really not sure how I talked him into this one, but I think it helped that I described like looking over the balcony at our house. There are still a range of emotions going on here!

"OK, I will quickly take one hand off to wave to Daddy."

"How about that! It is fun without hands!"

"Wait, let me look to check on just how high we are going."

"Mmmm, I think I will use both hands just to be safe."


More honey pots (out of order!) Amazingly, we also got him on the mini-mini roller coaster over there in hopes of prepping him for a bigger one.




What is a vacation without a self-portrait?


By far, the BEST part of the day came at the end! We saw "Coobrila" by Cirque du Soliel. I had seen two of their big shows, but neither my husband or the kids had ever seen them. LOVED LOVED LOVED it! Alone, it was worth the price of the SF ticket! The costumes were some of the best I have seen and the kids (and husband) were amazed the whole show!

The kids got to meet one of the pre-show performers!


After returning to the hotel and taking quick showers, they were out as soon as their heads hit the pillows. Please don't miss the fact that he is wearing his new Superman cape to bed!!


Day 3/Hawaiian Falls:
* One of my friends and her two dtrs met us there. It really helped because we were able to let the girls hang out together and then divide up when we needed to. My son's favorite was the lazy river section. He must have gone around 10 times with his Daddy.
* My friend and I got our thrill quota in that day. I think I was trying to make up for SF! I hit the 5-story tube slide several times. She and I also risked our lives on the 5-story skatepark waterslide ride! It was thrilling, but I felt like I had a body sprain for the next 2 days!
* And yes, we were at the same park that closed for a few hours the next day due to some intestinal bug found in the water. Perfect!

Crazy hair!


The girls!


I hated not taking a good camera with us, but it just didn't make sense as we were trying to stay hands-free most of the time. The disposable pics are hard to look at after experiencing better ones, but hope you enjoyed!

Stacey