Boot Scootin' Boogie

For the life of me I can't remember who sang that song, but the title seemed appropriate for today's post. Lori, cover your ears, close your eyes, do whatever you have to do to ignore the following . . . but I've got to give a HUGE shout-out to Tracy Spear for having such a heart of a servant; if she didn't, what follows would not have been possible for my family. Back in November, I guess, Tracy did a whole lot of volunteer work for one of the music teachers at PCA when Brennan's class was preparing to perform out at Six Flags during Holiday at the Park. To show her appreciation, the music teacher gifted Tracy with a bunch of complimentary passes to the park, which I've already told you that Tracy passed on to us. Those were the passes that we used yesterday, as in Sunday. But wait, you say. Didn't you go on Saturday also? Oh yes, my friends, WE WENT TO SIX FLAGS TWO DAYS IN A ROW and it only cost us about $15, which was spent entirely on the first day (remember the hot chocolate and pretzels?)! Wait 'til you hear about our trip on Sunday!

The passes we used on Saturday were not the passes Tracy gifted us with; it turns out she still had a surplus of passes so she was literally walking up to people on Saturday while they stood in line and asking, "How would you like a free pass into the park? Merry Christmas!" She is something, I tell ya. Anyway, we had remembered all the important stuff (camera, inhaler, etc.) on Saturday but forgot our passes, but Tracy was like, "Forget it--I've got plenty." So that still left us with six passes for another visit before the end of the year.

We got home from church around 12:30 yesterday, ate a quick bite, changed clothes and made the five-mile trek back to Six Flags (yes, we actually live that close to nirvana!), where we encountered a traffic jam that could have probably been considered for inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records. We sat there for a minute or two and then, inexplicably, a traffic guard just waved our whole lane through without having to go through the main gates. What the . . . ??? Hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, I always say! Our little detour took us to the back parking lot which was relatively empty, but which is also accessible by tram so who cares how far away it is? It also makes it a breeze to get out at closing time. So we chose a parking spot, locked up our valuables and away we went!

I have to say, the park was PACKED, and we overheard several conversations during the day but "veterans" who said they'd never seen this kind of crowd at Six Flags before. Do we know how to pick 'em or do we know how to pick 'em? The same thing happened when we visited the Children's Museum in Indianapolis last year! But whatever--onward and upward! The kids wanted to head straight for El Sombrero (I was close!) but wiser heads prevailed (aka I got my way) and we headed for the opposite side of the park. I had actually had the thought that if we let Sawyer and Peyton do a couple of rides that were more to their liking first, we might manage a couple of more challenging rides afterwards. We went to Looney Tunes Land or whatever it's called, and it was an utter madhouse. OH . . . MY . . . WORD. Lines like you've never seen snaked everywhere the eye could see, and I thought to myself for the umpteenth time that only at Six Flags can you convince thousands of small children to stand in line for an hour to sit in a little metal box for a ride that lasts all of two minutes!

"Divide and conquer" was our initial plan yet again, so I left Randy, Sawyer and Peyton in line for the Speedy Gonzales Truck ride while Tyler, Darcy and I checked out what looked to be a little mini-coaster (emphasis on mini) called the Grand Canyon Blaster. That was our only bad call of the day--Peyton would have totally had more fun with us.

Wouldn't this make a great Christmas card?

After waiting in line for such a long time for our very first ride(s), we collectively decided if we were going to have to wait in line, we might as well be on a ride that gave a few more thrills! I begged everyone to give the Runaway Mine Train a try, but our hearts sank when we got there and discovered that the 50-ish couple in the front of the line had been teenagers when they first queued up! So we opted for the Mini Mine Train instead, which is a very fun ride but FAR TOO SHORT. Are you listening, Six Flags officials? Add another loop or something, for crying out loud!

I love this picture!

My guys

After riding the Mini, I talked everybody into agreeing to attend the show at the Southern Palace, and the next show was at 4:30. By my watch it was 4:00 and we had decided to grab some dinner (with Tracy's free dinner passes--SWEET!) before the show. Tickets were free, but you had to have one to get in. So Randy said, "Just go ahead and get passes for the 4:30 show--that gives us half an hour to eat." I'm looking around at the crowds and I said, "There's no way the six of us can get a meal in 30 minutes." So we opted to go to the 5:30 show instead, and we headed to Gator McGee's for a chicken fingers basket dinner. After waiting in line for an hour (sure, we can make the 4:30 show--NOT), we each got three chicken fingers, a boatload of the tastiest french fries I've ever tasted (eat your heart out, Burger King!), a "dinner roll" which was just the top half of a hamburger bun, and enough caffeinated Coke to rev my kids' engines for two weeks! Seriously, who gives a four-year-old 50 ounces of Coke?

Here is a collection of "Sawyer expressions" as we waited for our chicken fingers.

Once we'd finished dinner, I thought it would be a good idea to take a couple of the kids to the restroom so Peyton, Sawyer and I headed off. You wouldn't think there would be anything remotely amusing about going to the restroom but I actually laughed to myself on the way there and back; as much as the kids sort of dawdled and gawked at all the sights, there were times (and this was one of them) where it almost felt like they were on wheels and they put up no resistance as I towed them through the crowd. You know, a four-year-old's legs are short and don't always move as quickly as a grown-up's, but I almost felt like Sawyer was floating next to me. And I have to say, we were totally going against the flow as the crowd from the 4:30 show was being released at the precise time that we were trying to make our way BACK to Gator McGee's!

The quality of the Southern Palace show was as good as I remembered it being as a kid--these are the performers that I often think could go a long way on American Idol. The show was called "All I Want for Christmas" and it was a bright, fast and LOUD production, the highlight of which was the "snow" (soap flakes) fluttering down from the ceiling! The kids thought that was pretty cool.

After the show, we exited the theater to find that the sun had gone down, but not necessarily the lines! This was the time, however, that we got in most of our riding: We hit the Boot Scoot where you sit in, yes, this giant boot and it bounces you UP and down, UP and down repeatedly. Randy and I both agreed this ride definitely needs some music! Tyler and Darcy rode the Sidewinder which is like the old Octopus ride. Then Sawyer demanded that we ride the Sombrero again and I was like, "Are you sure???" He was insistent so Tyler and I accompanied him while Randy and Peyton accompanied Darcy to the Conquistador, which she rode all by her lonesome. I wasn't concerned about Sawyer since he seemed so sure that he wanted to get back on the Sombrero but sure enough, on the first high, steep dive he yelled, "I want to get off now!!!" I put my arm around him to make him feel more secure and that's all he needed. The rest of the time he whooped and hollered just for the fun of it. We finished up with a leisurely ride on the carousel which was probably the least crowded ride in the park, and we headed home around 8:30. And all that without spending a dime! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, Tracy!

Oh, and for the record, it was Brooks and Dunn. I'm just sayin'.