WoRsHiPcHiC

Sunday, July 29, 2007

So, we were all packed and ready to take a little trip to MI…

Tuesday night, around 10pm, Caleb woke up screaming. His throat hurt… and his ears hurt… and he was so congested he could hardly breathe. Phil and I had been fighting summer colds for the past week, so it was not altogether shocking that one of the kids would get sick. It was amazing, however, that Caleb got so sick, so fast. I spent the rest of the night wondering if I should just take him to the ER, but I couldn't seem to find time between all the breathing treatments, hot showers, and juice cup refills. Eventually we fell asleep. Try not to take that too literally, though. Actually, Caleb fell asleep in my bed, and I laid next to him, holding Ian, and listening to him breathe for the rest of the night.

In the morning, I gave Caleb a bath and some more meds and walked into the doctor's office. I try not to do that. I am actually very good about making appointments, and most of the time I even remember them. However, on this particular morning, I should have been across the state line already, and I didn't have a whole lot of time to waste. They took us right in, which was greatly appreciated… especially since Caleb didn't even appear sick anymore.

To make a long story short, we were on our way to MI, with even more medicine in hand, only 3 hours later than planned. When you consider the construction and grid-lock traffic, it's not so bad that I picked my mom up to go shopping only 4 ½ hours late. Please note the sarcasm here…

My mom and I had a very nice evening. We bought tons of clothes for the kids, because Seth and Grace are growing like weeds! Baby boy clothes are just too cute, so Caleb and Ian got some new things, as well. Mom and I had Chinese for dinner, which is always a plus, because Phil and the kids hate Chinese food, so I rarely get to eat it.

After a better night's sleep… not great, mind you, but better… we loaded up the van again and headed for Michigan's Adventure and Wildwater Kingdom with Phil's parents. I had never been there before, and I found it to be quite fun. It is not Cedar Point, but let's face it, what park can compare? I found MA to be very nice, because it wasn't so overwhelming. It was actually possible to ride everything in one day with time to spare. I didn't, however, ride everything, but we'll get to that…

We started the day with some kiddie rides. After that, we rode a small roller coaster, some cars, and the ferris wheel. Seth and Grace wanted to ride the frog hopper, but Caleb was a little nervous. Unlike at CP, where the frog hopper is strictly for kids, MA has a policy that allows some "small" adults to ride. I do not consider myself small. However, I am relatively idiotic when it comes to my desire to ride everything possible, so I thought it couldn't hurt to ask… The ride operator actually let me on the thing, and, yes, the seatbelt and harness bar snapped just fine. Of course, this picture is worth posting. Please feel free to laugh to your heart's content…

We rode an assortment of spinning rides next, and by "we", I mean me and the kids. Everyone else seemed... uh... content to watch. One thing that I noticed was that the measurements are very lax in comparison to CP. Grace was able to ride everything, without question, even though I think she was a little short for some attractions. At any rate, we were doing great until we boarded the Tilt-A-Whirl. For some years now, Tilt-A-Whirl type rides have made me mildly queasy. This one was the final straw. We spun around… and around… and around… I honestly thought it was never going to stop. And my kids were not encouraged by the words, "Mommy is going to throw up!" For the record, I did not, indeed, throw up. However, I am not going to be riding the Tilt-A-Whirl anymore. And with that, I realize that I have just become less fun to take to amusement parks… Oh well… I value my breakfast and do not wish to see it twice…

My Last Spin on the Tilt-A-Whirl

We walked back to the car and had lunch, but I'm not sure my stomach was ever completely settled after that. I did manage to have a great time at the water park and to enjoy the swan boats, large flume ride, and raft ride in the afternoon. It was a cool day, though, and we were soaked!

One word about Wildwater Kingdom… there is a good reason that Funnel of Fear has a 48" height requirement. Phil, Seth, Grace, and I rode together, and poor Grace bumped her butt all the way down the ride, because she was too small to fit in the tube properly. It is the only time I can ever remember Grace getting off a ride and informing us that she was never riding it again, because she didn't like it. The child will ride anything! She was just not the right size…

We rode the train to the front of the park and continued to ride bumper cars, the smaller flume, and more spinning rides. Eventually we worked our way to the Mad Mouse roller coaster, which was unique and quite fun.

Me and Ian on the Giant Gondola Wheel Grandpa and Caleb on the Train

Seth, Grace, and Me on Grand Rapids Phil and Seth on the Swan Boats

Let me backtrack for a moment and tell you that our "injury count" was already to 2 at this point… Caleb had slammed his forehead into a wooden post earlier in the day, and he was sporting a pretty nice bruise, and I had scraped my knee on one of the exits to a kid's water slide. So…

After we got off the Mad Mouse, we walked through the exit tunnel, and Seth and I were walking a little too quickly… OK… OK… We were running. Actually, we were intentionally running, because we were just having a good time and being overly silly. I am usually extremely cautious… as in, to a fault. I do not let my kids run if there is a rule about walking. Now I know why… Seth tripped on the cement, and although I tried to stop as quickly as possible, the momentum carried me. We were holding hands, so this resulted in my dragging Seth for maybe a yard or so. And now he had a matching bloody knee… I felt awful!

I sat down on a bench with Seth, while Phil went to get water and a towel from the stroller. Eventually, we realized that he really needed a band-aid. Our plan was to ride the Falling Star for a second time, since the kids had really enjoyed it earlier in the day, but instead, we were sitting on a bench waiting for Phil to go out to the car and return with what we needed from the first aid kit. Moments after Phil left, it began to sprinkle lightly. Then, there was a quick downpour. Phil's mom and dad helped me get the kids under a small roof that extended from some bathrooms that were nearby. Within seconds of us getting under the roof, it began to hail! These were very large chunks of hail. I have not seen hail too often, but this was definitely the largest I have seen. So, Phil's mom got into the women's bathroom with Seth and Grace, while I yelled at his dad to get into the men's bathroom with Caleb and the stroller. Poor Dad was trying to tell me that he couldn't do that without briefly going out into the hail, because there was a drinking fountain in his way. I, however, could neither see the fountain nor hear what he was saying over the noise of the hail and all the people, so I kept yelling at him. Finally, he did slide around the drinking fountain and into the bathroom, and then I felt free to take cover, myself, with Ian whom I was holding under a towel. A piece of hail did graze my face, and another hit Seth's shoe, but other than that we were fine.

In the meantime, Phil had been right at the exit to the park, getting his hand stamped, when the hail began. So, thankfully, he was under a roof, as well.

When the hail cleared, several park employees came into the bathroom. They were drenched and had been hit by the hail, but they had been unable to leave the rides when the storm began, because it came without warning, and there were still people on the rides. It was not lost on us that we would likely have been on the Falling Star, had Seth not scraped his knee. We have never been more thankful for a scraped knee!

At this point, it was only a little over an hour until the park was scheduled to close, and many (most) of the rides had been shut down due to the weather. With that in mind, we decided to leave. There were very few cars left in the parking lot when we pulled out.

We checked into our hotel, which was sort of a funny story in itself, went and ate at Pizza Hut (even Ian got to chew on some crust, because everyone's first "real" food should be pizza. ), and settled in for another OK night of sleep.

The following morning, we headed to Hoffmaster State Park and enjoyed the nature center, a trail, and the beach. Among the funny happenings was the kid's discovery of "preserved" animals. Grace went from one display to the next, explaining that the animals were dead. She even stopped to offer her condolences to one little bird. She looked right at it and said, "Birdie, I'm sorry the hunters shot you." There was also a room with live animals that I liked a bit more.

We had a nice hike up 17,000 steps, which culminated in a beautiful view of Lake Michigan. And the kids discovered that they really like the beach. I am getting tired and will let the pictures speak for themselves. It was a wonderful time.