A Free Day at Six Flags

One little advantage to Daddy's working for a relatively large corporate company is some of the perks they can provide...like free days to the local amusement park.  They covered everything--parking fee, lunch, admission, a value of at least a couple hundred dollars, just for our little family.  We decided it was too good a deal to miss, even though the weekend ended up being a pretty cold one.  So after church that Sunday, we jumped in the car and headed up...and it was pretty amazing to see JUST how many people were apparently a part of the local branches of Daddy's company.  The parking lot was just about filled to the brim by the time we got there.

It was the first time the Munch had been to an amusement park, and though I couldn't do any of the rides (all those signs say 'NO preggers allowed!'...or something to that order ;) ), I still very much enjoyed the day, and took full advantage of my camera...

The balloon sign greeted us as we walked in, so of course we snagged a pic.

After a quick ride on the carousel...

(which she loved)

...we went in search of the picnic area where the food was.  We'd never been in it before, despite multiple visits to this park in the past, so it took us a while to find it...we made a wrong turn and ended up essentially going all the way around the park to get to it.  But the food was good (though lukewarm), and it filled us up and readied us for the rest of the afternoon.  And our unexpectedly long walk served us well to pinpoint which areas we wanted to check out...the day was mostly for the Munch, which meant we'd be going to many more areas that we'd historically avoided... ;)

The first stop a little area filled with Flintstones and Jetsons and Scooby Doo.  She and Daddy went on a number of the rides, but I'd say her highlight was the roller coaster.  Yep.  My 3-year-old BEGGED to go on that little roller coaster.  We warned her about what to expect--the wind in her face (which she hates), the tallness of the ride (which could be scary), the speed--no dice.  She wanted it.  So ok...we let her have it...and, well, I guess we learned a thing or two about our usually oh-so-cautious child.  She's a little thrill-seeker in disguise!

She thought that coaster was the most amazing thing EVER.  You can't hear it on this video, sadly, but she was shrieking with laughter the entire time.  We are most pleased to discover this trait in her.  :)

Among the other rides she enjoyed...

A Flintstone car ride that was essentially a themed, child-only carousel...

An AIRPLANE.  Duh, of COURSE she'd love this one.  She spotted it from a mile away, and was practically jumping up and down as she waited in line...

A child-friendly dropper...the thing barely fit Daddy.  I was in fits of laughter watching, but he had to accompany her whether he liked it or not!

A sea-themed play area.  I totally surprised her when she was in this tunnel...and got a GREAT shot as a result!

Plus, we saw mascots!  You almost never see them on a regular day, but we got lucky and scored 3 of them:

Scooby Doo

Foghorn Leghorn--who, when I was watching the tree-falling ride later, walked behind me and playfully smacked the back of my head... Not hard at all, but so random.  :)

And our absolute favorite, who also had a 'bodyguard' volunteering to take pictures for families, BUGS!  A shame the kiddo wasn't looking when this fun shot was taken.

It was an excellent day, and the Munch was VERY tired by the time we got home.  Let's just say she didn't have any problems going to bed that night!  :)