SIX FLAGS II

We had an extra Six Flags ticket since we bought one for my brother Phillip before he bailed out on us. So the younger Curtis kids had free tickets they had gotten from school and were going to go, so Shade and I decided to join them. It turned out to not be the best day - it was "bring a friend day" for season pass members, so there were tons of people there - but we still managed to have fun! We had to wait in lines quite a bit for rides, but the younger kids didn't really have very many rides they wanted to go on, so that was okay. Shade did get brave, though, and went on two scary rides that he was only able to do because he is so tall (with Lydia and me): The Joker (a circle coaster that goes back and forth until it starts to go around and around) and Mind Bender (one of the smaller roller coasters). He didn't think they were going to be too scary, because it doesn't look scary when you see the videos online, but it is MUCH different being on them in real life! As soon as The Joker ride started going up high enough that it felt like we were going to fall, Shade got the most freaked out look on his face and started freaking out. I put my arm over him and told him that the lap bar would hold him in, that he wouldn't fall out, and he calmed down a bit. I think because he is shorter than me, he would get pushed up and down in his seat a lot more than most people, so it probably felt like he was not secured in his seat. But overall, he did a great job on his first big-kid ride, and I was very proud of how willing he was to try it. As for the roller coaster, I told him that it would be much different, and not as scary, so he agreed to try it without any hesitation. Once again, as soon as we went down the first fast dip and up the first loop, he freaked out and bent his head toward me and stayed like that the rest of the time. But he didn't scream or cry. When we ended, his face was blank and a bit pale. We got off and he said he needed to sit down for awhile. But again, overall, I think he did a great job for doing something scary. Other than those rides, the Bumper Cars (where we went when it was raining pretty hard) and the Thunder River (pictured above while we were waiting in line), we spent most of our day in the water park area. Shade actually loved going down the water tube rides, and even dared to go down the scary one (Tsunami Surge) with me and Lydia, even after the coaster experiences! I know he had fun, and maybe in a few years he will be willing to go on some of the coasters with me again!