We Had Such a GREAT Time!

Boys in Line for Raging Bull

The kids earn Great America tickets from a school reading program. I had two tickets which expire this Saturday. Our summer has been so jam packed I have been really struggling with when I could go. Anna is off at camp so I didn't feel bad about using her ticket for Johnny. The deal was this: David had two days to read the book Woods Runner by Gary Paulson. It is about 160 pages which is significant for David. If he could complete the book by the deadline, I would take him and Johnny to Great America. Johnny also had to complete a reading challenge in order to qualify. Both boys did it, so I had to get my act together and find a way to make it happen. Even with the free tickets it is still not cheap. We packed our own food and tried to be as conservative as possible. We stopped at Walgreens on the way and each of the boys picked out some shades for the day. When we got there I forced them to eat an entire peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Johnny protested, but later in the day said that it was amazing how that sandwich really held him over. Lesson for the day—Just listen to your mom... We started off big on the Raging Bull. I wanted Johnny to do the hardest coaster first so that he wouldn't be afraid of any of the others. It worked—he loved it and we conquered coaster after coaster for the rest of the day; all the while fueling ourselves on refills of lemonade and popcorn. David had a goal to do the Giant Drop and this was the only ride Johnny wasn't into. He made us laugh the whole line though and even when I was buckled in next to David I was looking down on him wondering what in the world he was saying to everyone around him. David and I dropped gigantically and I was laughing because it took my breath away. We finished out the night with one last ride on the Eagle. I heard a rumor that it might be the last year to ride it. When we got back to our car we chowed on all our food that we never went back to the car to eat, laughing that red hots make you feel alive and all sorts of other silly conversation.