The Wilson 6 Chronicles

With Justin being home all last week after a month in Canada, we took the opportunity to get the heck out of Boiling Springs for some summer time fun. So, on Tuesday, we headed up to Carowinds. I have to admit- I was really excited about this because I love love love rides. I will ride anything with a seatbelt and/or restraint bar and the higher and faster it goes, the better for me. Plus, I have tons of wonderful memories tied up in the annual visits that we made to Carowinds as a child. Seriously, I could draw you a map of the layout of the park in 1989. I remember riding the Scooby Doo roller coaster with my daddy and always having my picture taken in the Fred Flintstone car that has a Fred sitting there with his arm out. You could probably measure my growth by looking at those pictures from every year. I remember rides that are long gone from the park (White Lightning and the Flintstone cars) and always riding the same white horse on the carousel. I was majorly looking forward to seeing my kids get to enjoy some of the same rides (although many of them have different names now) and hoping to get some riding in for myself. We almost decided not to go because, as of Monday night, the weather prediction was a 60% chance of rain and who wants to be at Carowinds in the rain with 4 kids? But we decided to play odds and it really paid off for us- the day was slightly overcast and cooler and there were no lines for most of the rides. The kids were able to ride things multiple times because there were never any kids waiting to ride them afterwards. Yay. And the behavior of the kids was at a level that I have never seen before. They were so good. Eleanor was in her element because we let her walk and choose the ride which meant lots of independence. And being independent is the color of Eleanor's happy place. Alden was his normal happy self and Zachary was able to ride all of the big rides including some coasters that I didn't think he would ride. Eleanor had a near meltdown when Diego tried to talk to her and now she can relate an entire narrative that (didn't) occur between the two of them. Along the times of him trying to hug her and her setting boundaries, then calling him stupid. Alden has a similar get-away-from-me reaction with SpongeBob. I don't ever recall being afraid of the characters that walked around the park. If I remember correctly, there is a picture of me with Jabberjaw floating around somewhere and I was pretty young. I am guessing that I was older than the Middle though. It really turned out to be a fun day full of rides, Icees, soft serve ice cream in a cone, and no meltdowns. Unfortunately, the camera was left in the van so all of the pictures come courtesy of my iPhone. Getting ready to ride the balloons with the boys. Quick confession- this was the first ride that I have ever ridden that made me feel sick. I had just ridden the Nighthawk (awesome- you are inverted and ride blind for the most part!) which didn't faze me but I think since I was riding this ride with my back to the direction we were spinning, it freaked out my system. I definitely had to do some cleansing breathes.
Harper's first carousel ride
Flying the planes. Again, in my day, these were black and white (and maybe red) and I recall fighting with Shannon on making the plane go up and down.
Wiped out from all of the excitement (and humidity)

Later in the week, we spent some time in the mountains so those pics will come later this week. All in all, we had a fun, family time week with Justin being home. And speaking of Justin, a quick Happy Father's Day to wonderful dad. We all love you very much!