Next Time I Say, "Hey, Let's Go to Six Flags on Labor Day!" Somebody Slap Me.

Nah, it wasn't that bad. On a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best, our outing yesterday would totally clock in at about a minus 17. That's not so bad, right? To give you a little perspective, I'd say it wasn't as bad as having hot pins poked in my eyes; on the other hand, it was much worse than laboring through childbirth--four times.

Oh, I kid. Our friends told us we were crazy for attempting Six Flags not just on Labor Day, but on "Bring-a-Friend-for-Free Labor Day!" but we pressed on. I didn't mention this before, but we also went out to Six Flags Sunday afternoon for about four hours. Lest you think I am a heathen for skipping Sunday evening services, may I remind you that when a month with five Sundays rolls around, we have a big 5th Sunday potluck after the morning service and then cancel evening service altogether. Just so you know.

I will say that there was a noticeable difference between the attendance this past Sunday/Monday and what we experienced during our staycation. It was as though everyone within a 300-mile radius realized that the carefree days of summer are coming to a screeching halt, and they made the unanimous decision to spend their last day of freedom at Six Flags. Over Texas. Seriously, I think all the other Six Flags theme park employees were at home crying over that paycheck that's not coming because no one showed up in California, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, Maryland or New Jersey--they ALL decided that our little park right here in Arlington, Texas was the place to be!!

So let me tell you why it was all worth it--the heat, the crowds, the lines, the heat . . . 'cause my big brother and niece came with us! Well, that, and I finally got to ride the Shockwave!



I just want to point out in the first photo, the sign for the Shockwave . . . see the dates at the bottom? If it opened in 1978 and I rode it sometime in its first year, as I believe I did, then I was around 11 years old when I rode my first "real" rollercoaster--and got whiplash, and ruined the curve in my neck, and embarked on an endless journey in the quest for relief from back and neck pain--and lived happily ever after. The end.

Because there were so many of us with varying desires yesterday, we split up almost immediately--Tyler, Savannah and Uncle Clark to Tony Hawk's Big Spin, Randy and Darcy to the Titan, and Sawyer, Peyton and I to the Grand Canyon Blaster. As it turned out, Clark bailed after waiting for a while at Tony Hawk and went to find Randy and Darcy at the Titan; fortunately (I'm trying to be positive here), the line was long enough that Clark didn't have to worry about missing them. Darcy told me later that she'd decided she would only ride the Titan at night like we did at Christmas, because that thing is monstrously tall and it freaked her out a little to see how high up she was. Clark and Randy, for the record, nearly passed out. Don't hesitate to ask Randy about it the next time you see him! :-)

Later, Darcy and Savannah headed to the Shockwave while the rest of us went to the Mine Trains (Mini and Runaway). Sawyer's favorite is the Mini Mine Train and I have to admit, when I'm not riding it with him, my favorite thing to do is stand at the exit where the train pulls in when the ride is over, and catch a glimpse of his face the moment the train comes up after the last dip. The flush of excitement on his face is indescribable! His cheeks are so rosy, he's grinning from ear to ear--it's just pure unadulterated joy.

While we were still waiting for our turn on the Mini Mine Train, I asked Clark to call Savannah and see how crowded the Shockwave was. They'd had just enough time to walk to that side of the park and take their place in line, and I was wondering if I'd be able to make it over when we were finished. So Clark texted Savannah (By the way, doesn't the word "texted" just sound wrong, sort of like saying "teached" instead of "taught"? Maybe it's just me) after we had literally been standing in line for ten minutes and this is what he got back: "We are done." NO WAY!!

Needless to say, when Darcy and Savannah found us (and cut in line, I might add--Park Police!), Darcy gushed, "Mom, I have a new favorite roller coaster!" That did it. "You're coming back with me, missy!" Yeah, like that's some sort of punishment. And man, had I forgotten how FUN the Shockwave is! Of course, whiplash will do that to you. Just sort of puts a damper on the whole thing, you know?

The worst part of the day sort of turned out to be the best (I told you, I'm trying to be positive): the line for the Log Ride (or El Asseradero--whatever!) was L-O-N-G (the longest one of the day, in fact) but one innovation that Six Flags has added to their more popular attractions is big screens that continuously play music videos and commercials with Kit somebody, the official Six Flags spokesperson who spouts words of wisdom like, "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade" while you try to forget that you've aged a year waiting in line for a ride that takes all of ninety-seconds. So we waited for, I don't know, maybe 45 minutes and we were literally on the bridge to go down four steps and get in the boats when Sawyer desperately needed to go to the bathroom. I had no doubt of his sincerity as we had been pushing water on the kids so they wouldn't get dehydrated, and he had drunk his fair share. For a few minutes he seemed to think he could wait until we were done with the ride, but suddenly it seemed that everything slowed to a crawl. Things were looking pretty grim--"If he could just sit down he could make it," I kept thinking--and finally when he said he couldn't last five more minutes Randy piped up and said he was tired of waiting anyway and he would take him to the bathroom. And I kid you not . . . after waiting for what seemed like an hour and we were like six people back . . . the ride broke down. One minute after Randy left with Sawyer. Can you believe it?! Two boats got jammed and they shut the whole thing down. Aaaarrrrgh! But don't you see? On the bright side, it turns out Randy and Sawyer didn't miss anything at all!

Say it with me: When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!