So, we got up on Thursday morning to pouring rain. We got ourselves up, got the kids up, then Denise scrambled to check the weather in the various cities we could go to. Meanwhile, I dashed out the door to collect the only member of our trek who couldn't drive himself to Grandma's house.
Once we got everyone all together, we decided to brave the 50% chance of rain forecast in Santa Clause and stick to the Holiday World plan. We loaded up & headed out, with me leading & Chad following. Note: When on a trip, it is important that I not be driving the lead car. I went through a lot of yellow lights, the result of which was that Chad went the wrong way in Shelbyville. (Never mind that he had three adults in his car, all of whom live in Indiana; this managed to be my fault.)
While waiting in a parking lot for Chad to catch up, I taught the kids one important life skill: the Chinese Fire Drill. I wish it had a better name; sorry.
We carried on & then I ended up going the wrong way; yeah, never mind the drive. Suffice to say, we arrived at Holiday World eventually, ate our sandwiches & headed in.
The two boys were anxious to try The Raven, the original HW roller coaster, so that's where we headed first. Well, second. First, we headed to get the first of our free drinks of the day. Then, we got in line for The Raven.
Oddly enough, I wasn't nervous while standing in line for this roller coaster. That's a bit of a departure for me, who has been known to stand in line for over an hour only to chicken out at the last minute. The two boys wanted to ride in the very front, so that's the direction they went; no surprises that they had the longest wait. Billy & Jennie headed to a corral with a short line, and Amanda & Becca went in beside them, so we followed Amanda & Becca. (Denise, who is not a fan of anything that goes up, down, around, or at speeds exceeding what she can do on her own feet, stayed outside to hold the bags and take pictures.)
The look on my sister-in-law's face when she got off the coaster was not encouraging. Apparently Becca spotted it, too, because she was getting pretty nervous as she got fastened in. We assured her that even if she was scared, it would be a short ride and in any case she could hang on to Amanda. (Who, by the way, was a real trooper for taking on a nervous kid she doesn't know well.)
Their turn over, we were up next! We climbed in, got all fastened down, and that's when I told Chad, "I really, really hate roller coasters." He was all, "What??" But it was a little too late to be bothering about that when the ride was already moving.
Here's my problem with coasters: the first hill. I have to close my eyes & hold my breath. I've tried not doing that, with no success. If I ever go on a coaster that's too high, I'll probably suffocate. Once we got past that first bit, it was all good. Except, of course, that I was a bit of a nut loose inside a shell in the seat & ended up getting banged up a bit by bouncing from side to side every time we went round a corner.
We got off & had to wait for the boys, who still had a few people in front of them in line before they could go. Chad was still trying to work out why I do the eyes-closed-hold-breath routine while hurtling down a narrow wooden track in a plastic car, Becca was exuberant about how it was fun but scary, and I just wanted to ride something calmer. Like, say, my feet.
Coming tomorrow: The Scrambler, the Swings, the Legend, and my new favourite water park.
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