Friday, May 23, 2008

Da Count-A Good Time Had by All

As you recall, on Wednesday I chaperoned a field trip of 400 6th graders to an amusement park. I had in my charge 5 of those 400, 2 boys and 3 girls. They were all nice kids and in spite of the weather being all of 50 degrees and being rained on for the last hour we had a great time. Lemme show you.


And early stop was this ride. One girl was not liking the looks of it so much so I waited with her while the others went on it. No one has to go on a ride that scares them.
We came. We saw. We Sklooshed. The Skloosh is a log flume on steroids. It is designed for maximum splash. After getting soaked riding it you stand on the bridge and let the next one splash you and wet down any parts the initial descent may have missed. Many chaperones were telling the kids they were not allowed to ride the Skloosh because it was only 50 degrees out. I told the kids they could ride it as much as they wanted before lunch but not after lunch so they'd be dry for the ride home. They were very happy and planned to ride all morning. Yay! Isaac's mom is way cool! SKLOOSH!!!!! We are all wet!! Yay!!!! Oh! BRRRRRRR!!!! We are freezing our little 6th grade butts off. Can we be done on the Skloosh now? Are you sure? Y-y-y-yes. W-w-w-w-we are s-s-s-sure. (teeth chattering)



So they decided turning themselves upside down looked like fun. I must say. I thought it looked like fun too, but again there was one member of the group who was not digging the idea so I sat out with her. After this they wanted to head to the roller coasters. All of my kids love roller coasters (I am so relieved because I do too and I would have been very disappointed if I had to sit with someone who was afraid of them and not go on.) so we headed off in that direction but passed the Merry-go-Round first. I got very excited because I've been to this park with my own kids and I know this one has brass rings to grab. I very excitedly told the kids we needed to go on the Merry-go-Round and they told me it was a baby ride. I said no way, we had to go for the brass rings and only Isaac knew what I was talking about. I had to walk them around show them what it was all about and instruct them in the ways of the brass ring. THEN all but one was willing and excited to go on. I said listen kiddo, this isn't scary stuff. This is America! This is a rite of passage! This is the origin of idiomatic speech! You MUST get on this ride and go for the brass ring! The other kids exerted positive peer pressure and said you GOTTA!!!! So she moped onto a horse and stuck her arm out and after her first brass ring she was totally into it. I'd show you pictures but I was too busy hanging off my own carousel pony and pulling brass rings and throwing them back into the lion's mouth. I got 8 rings and got 7 back in. Woohoo, me!


After lunch the kids went on the Hurl-a-Whirl. No that's not the real name but when I watched the pendulum swing and the bit they sat on rotating at the same time what else could I call it. Really! Several of them looked quite green around the gills when it ended. I thought they'd be staggering off like drunks and head for a trashcan to puke. No, not these kids. They ran off and got right back in line...four times. I was getting ill watching.


So I went to a happy place. Ah, green leaves, cool and refreshing, serene and lovely, aaahhhhh......



Then it was time for more roller coasters. This place has not one but 2 wooden roller coasters, which I vastly prefer to the metal ones. I'm old school. The first one before lunch we went on about 4 times. The second one after lunch we went on about 7 times. The second one was the magnificent one with bumps and jerks and huge drops. It's also the one we were on when the sky opened up. It adds something to the experience to be pelted in the face with fat, stinging raindrops when your hurtling down a wooden track at a high rate of speed. For one thing, you find out how broad a range of profane vocabulary can possessed by the sweetest looking freckled-face 12 year old girl sitting next to you as she is digging her claws into your arm. You also learn how long one of the other girls can sustain a blood curdling scream and at what decibel level. At the end of the ride your son announces to everyone within earshot that he may never be able to give you grandchildren. (Holy crap! I bashed my balls BAD during that last bump!) In spite of all this, or perhaps because of all this, as soon as we disembarked from the first run the kids all looked at me with hopeful eyes and begged, "Can we go again?" Cheers all around when I said yes.

We were stopped only by a loud clap of thunder which shut down all the rides. We headed to the souvenir shop, the bathrooms, and back to the bus for the two hour return trip. I wish I could say that was a good time but half way through it a kid two seats in front of us blew chunks all over the seat, the window, the floor, himself, and the girl in front of him. To prevent a chain reaction from the stench every window flew open and we all froze.

Going to my happy place, green, calm, serene, happy, peaceful......

44 comments:

James Goodman said...

Yahtzee!!! Now, I'll go back and read, lol. :D

James Goodman said...

Wow, with the exception of the return trip, that sounds like a fabulous time. :D I'm glad everyone had fun.

Phain said...

The Girl rode a rollercoaster simulator at the museum on tuesday and is all geeked up to ride the real deal next time we go to busch gardens. *can't wait*

glad you guys had a great time - not so happy for the kid that hoarfed on the bus - but at least it gave you that one extra special memory for the day! lmao!

Craver Vii said...

Way cool. I never heard of the brass rings before, but now I'll keep an eye out. This trip will surely be etched in their memories and probably make future blogs or fireside stories... chunks and all.

Kat said...

Sounds like you had a fabulous time. Well except for the vomit and freezing. Other than that though.

NYD said...

Any ride that causes me to yell out "That was one helluva ball basher" is ok with me.

Just don't ask me to go on the ferris wheel. I'll Shit myself.

What's the big frickin deal about Callin' Yahtzee? It's like licking pistachio shells

furiousBall said...

i'm confused how that roller coaster fits in those twisty hands... i'd be ducking

Pam said...

i'm not a big fan of amusement parks, as i might have mentioned, but i go just so my kids can enjoy themselves. luckily my girls aren't like me and enjoy all the rides. i just sit and wait for my husband and the kids to come back LOL

now i probably would've been blowing chunks if i had SEEN someone blowing chunks...i hate throw up, throwing up..blah blah blah. i'd rather stay sick to my stomach than to throw up.

anyways, glad you all had a good time...and i bet those kids think you're a rocking mom! :)

EmBee said...

Sounds WAY better than the 'Potato Chip Factory'... Well, except for that last part.

And hey, I TOTALLY would ride the roller coaster with you because no one in my family will ride one. :-(

tsduff said...

Man alive, how come I never got to go on such a fabulous field trip, and also, why didn't I ever have such a fun chaperone as you? Loved the pictures, and how kind of you to stay with the one who didn't want to go up.

Commander Zaius said...

I like wooded roller coasters myself. I'm rather tall and just about every metal coaster I have ever ridden on has a metal beam going across above the rails that when you come speeding down, to me, looks lower than the top of my head. So I always end up dunking down fearing the upper portion of my head will be cleaved off.

Anonymous said...

Man! I was so on those rides with you... and I'm one of those strange ones who really doesn't care for roller coasters! Fabulous fun count... chunks and all! lol! Cheers!

Moosekahl said...

You really are a cool mom! I love old roller coasters too. What a great day.

Anonymous said...

Oh wow. My old stomping grounds. And The Twister still stands...kewl.

Phaedrous said...

Your place in heaven is assured.

P.

Breazy said...

I don't really care for roller coasters myself because of my being afraid of heights but I never can stay off of them when the kids start asking me to ride with them.

I am very happy that I wasn't on the return trip when the kids blew chunks because I would have helped him in a major way, I have a weak stomach when it comes to bodily fluids.

Sounds like a great time and you will be remembered as the coolest mom ever. All of the kids will want in your group on the next trip!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Suldog said...

You are definitely the way cool mom. I think you knew that already, but it never hurts to hear it, eh? Good on ya!

Fred said...

You are a much braver soul than I am. I would be a nervous wreck. But, it looks like you made the most out of it. Way to go Lime!

Anonymous said...

Awesome!!! You rock! Your post makes me think of a trip I went on that was similar :) Maye I'll post it next week.

Happy Friday!!!

Anonymous said...

Awesome!!! You rock! Your post makes me think of a trip I went on that was similar :) Maye I'll post it next week.

Happy Friday!!!

Unknown said...

Those roller coasters look like a blast and a half. This rain part ofo this story reminds me of one time when I was in high school and the fair was in town. The friend I was with did not want to get on the Zipper ride. We happened to meet a couple we knew who were five or six years older than us. The guy wanted to ride the Zipper and the gorl didn't so he an I got on. We were at the very top with out car facing teh sky when it started to rain. The ride just stopped, leaving us stranded and getting soaked. It seemed like a long time but was probably only 10 minutes or so. It was weird to be stuck like that with someone I did not knowvery well.

~Tim said...

Yeah, I always find that pointing out the origins of idiomatic speech to be one of the most persuasive arguments with kids....

G-Man said...

GOODWIN!!!!!!! (whatever)
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Limey!!!!!!
You of all people!!
I thought we wuz friends?
IHPAATOP..Translate please!!

Mona said...

Lime... I am not playing Yahtzee this week...

I remember sklooshing at the universal studio Jurassic theme park ride!. & Woah! I was saying my last prayers when we did the vertical full speed fall!

I have never taken a roller coaster ride Except for in real life ;)

The simulation ride ( Back to the Future!) was equally frightening for me!

LOL! My son was declaring the same thing about not being able to give me grandkids after one of the rides! :D

G-Man said...

Hahaha...
Mona...?
You are playing "Bringing up the Caboose" Though!!!
xomrandtrinixox

robkroese said...

Sounds like fun, although I think I'll wait to go on any water rides until it's at least 70 degrees. My tolerance for freezing my ass off has dropped considerably as I get closer to 40.

Jocelyn said...

So, Limey, baby, do you ever have even a bit of fun?

You are a walking party, woman!

And your latest comment on my blog cracked me up (about doing Atkins being cannibalism).

Mona said...

what is Caboose?????

airplanejayne said...

Okay, in addition to coming out for the Rogue in March, you gotta come back in May, when I take all my kids on a big field trip. YOU would be (as the kids say) like, SO COOL!!!!

BTExpress said...

I loved your commentary. LOL

There's an 1920s antique carousel on eastern Long Island. Every so many rings is the gold one. If you get one, you get a free ride.

lime said...

mona, the caboose is the last car on the train so if someone says you are bringing up the caboose it means you are last in line.

Cliff said...

I read your interview over at authorblog and was impressed. I even posted about it at my blog, complete with links.

Have a good one.

The Zombieslayer said...

Lime - Love your descriptions.

The Skloosh looks cool. We don't have any killer log rides here, but when the ride Nazis aren't looking, we splash each other on the log rides so it looks like we've ridden the ride 10 times after riding it just once.

The picture after the Skloosh, my older brother and I made my father's best friend throw up. He kept yelling "stop the ride" but we thought he was joking so we kept making it spin faster. That one looks like a 2-seater but the one we rode was a 4-seater, or maybe we were just tiny at the time.

Right after the ride ended, he ran to the bushes and horked. It was great.

I almost got kicked out of one amusement park when I was a kid because of the carousel rings. It was the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. We grabbed the rings from the carousel and kept them, then went to the scary monster Haunted Castle ride. When a scary monster jumped out, we screamed and threw rings at it.

At the end of the ride, these 2 very big adults (everyone looks big when you're a little kid) said if we came back to that ride, they'd escort us out of the park. So we didn't go back to that ride again that day.

I love roller coasters, but that hurl-a-whirl looks like a hork-a-lot ride. Forget that.

And I disagree with you about wooden roller coasters. Don't like them at all. They're too rough and just aggravate my back. Give me a metal roller coaster any day of the week.

Poor girl in front of Mr. Horkmeister. That wouldn't be a fun way to end a day.

S said...

Now Missy, you quit blaming that "scared little girl" for you not happening to make it onto some of the scariest rides!

Besides, how could we have enjoyed the park with all of you if you hadnt sat out and taken those pics?

:P

S said...

BTW I am scared to DEATH of those rides and every time my girl goes on one I become a believer...

Maggie May said...

Hope the rides didn't make you sick!
I came over from David's, just to let you know that I really enjoyed your interview & getting to know you a little better!

Shrinky said...

Ah, the joy of school trips! Looks like you not only survived, you positively enjoyed virtually all of it too. It's triggered a memory of one I went on some years back - shudder.. (I don't talk about it now, even if the school still does.)

I read your interview over at David's and just had to come over to say hi.

Middle Ditch said...

It seems to me that you had a whale of a time so a little vomit should not matter

Anonymous said...

I feel dizzy after all this up and down and around and around - your such a patient Mom!

Wishing you a great week ahead :-)

javajazz said...

wow y'all brave.
once my kids took me
on a kiddie rollercoaster
you know, for 18 month olds?
i had a panic attack before
the ride and almost said no.
i cant do those rides, not
one of em. when i was
a kid, i screamed so loud
like some kind of animal
that they stopped a ride
and let me off...weeee!
you rock, Limey!
ps G-man? so sorry you
had to read about the
horking...

javajazz said...

(Goodwin...hee hee!)

barman said...

What an awesome experience, mostly. I suppose I could have handled a little of the roller coaster. I have this fear if heights and let me tell you, I am funny and goofy when the car is climbing that first hill. Once I am over the initial shock I am OK with the coaster. Now as to the water ride... I so want to go. That looked like a ton of fun.

Jules said...

So did you find your hapy place? And how long did you stay there? LOL

Cath said...

I WAS gonna say what a fantastic time and how patient you are - then I got to the last bit. Ugh! lol There's always one!

I think I'd stick with the green leaves, peace, tranquility....,

I'm not a ride person (except merry go rounds and rollercoasters) so I would be happy to sit out with that one...

Great Sunday Roast interview at David's and the recognition well deserved. Tnaks for all your visits and encouragement at mine.