Mother's Day was a real treat for me this year. Dan's parents came down to visit, the weather was beautiful and the kids decided to take me to Waldameer on Sunday. Waldameer is a local amusement park and we couldn't have picked a better day. The weather was slightly cool (light sweatshirts), it was Mother's day and they had only opened the park for the season the day before. All of these factors added up to NO LINES FOR ANY RIDES!! We took our favorite Columbian girl with us too. Laura is 9 months older than Erin and over the last 3 years has become an honorary fifth Ballesty child. We LOVE having her around and she gets 4 instant siblings!
In the past 2 years Waldameer Park has added two new rides. The first, called X-Scream is a 140 foot free fall tower. They haul you up nice and slowly to 140 feet (with absolutely gorgeous views of lake Erie and Presque Isle State Park) and then without hesitation, drop you like a rock! The kids decided that it would be the first ride of the day and we all headed over. Elise chose to be official photographer and forgo the ride. She is not big on heights and often takes a while to warm up to challenges. So the 6 of us (Dan, myself, Laura, Erin, Liam and Declan [who was SO thrilled that he finally makes the height requirements for all the rides]) all grabbed a seat and buckled in. The ride up was calm and beautiful, the ride down fast and adrenalin producing. By the time your brain registers the feeling of weightlessness (read: falling without constraints!) the brakes are kicking in and the ride is settling to the ground. The reactions were as varied as the group: Erin, Laura and Declan all got off and immediately got back in line to go on again, Dan and I were both physically shaking from the rush and poor Liam burst into tears. He assured us he wasn't frightened by it and we agreed that it was all just a bit of overload for him. By the end of the day, the other's (having gone on it 3 times already) had convinced Elise to try it - which I am so proud to say - she did! Getting off after the ride she promptly declared "I am NEVER doing that again!" Liam, Dan and I agreed that once was good for the day, but all are mulling over doing it again next time we come (even Liam says he might try it again). I'm game - it was a truly unique sensation!
The second ride they added at Waldameer was the Spinning Roller Coaster. This one is a small but fast coaster with carts that turn (randomly) up to 360 degrees as you go along. Needless to say, going down rollercoaster 90 degree drops sideways or even backwards can be a bit disconcerting!! Awesome fun though! The ride seemed a bit short but maybe that was just because we rode it 5 times in succession. I've alwas loved rollercoasters and this is by far my favorite ride (at least for now!). We are all looking forward to going back soon and I think that Elise has decided to bring some friends to the park for her birthday party in June. We'll keep you up to date -
J
