Lagoon 2011

We recently had our annual trip to Lagoon, compliments of Brandon's employer. Here is Buttermilk Sky in front of Dracula's Castle.

I slacked with the camera and didn't get as many good shots as usual--as well as the fact that I spent most of my time in the kiddie ride section with Junior and Eggs on Toast.

This year we tried out Lagoon's water park. Brandon and I spent our first twenty minutes there searching for the three eldest boys because after they were finished changing in the dressing room, Brandon told them to "go out and wait," and they heard "go out and wade," so they went on into the children's section to "wade". It took us that long to find them.

The boys decided that while they had fun, next time they don't want to go in the water park because the rides are better. The wait for the big water slides was about an hour and they feel like they get good enough swim fun at our local pool.

Junior made a friend on the bumper cars and thereafter, the two were inseparable.

Junior had thus far refused to go on the dragon kiddie coaster, recalling last year's fear, until his new friend made him "pinkie promise" that he would go on it after they rode the fighter planes.

After that it was his favorite ride.

This year's faves:

Junior: Puff the Magic Dragon
Eggs on Toast: Rattlesnake Rapids
Buttermilk Sky: Colossus
Onion Ring: Wicked

The Brave and the Bold

Onion Ring looked up at the dizzying height of the roller coaster. He saw the people strapped into the little seats which were attached to the tracks by...who knows what. He heard the screams. He felt the pang of fear deep in his innards. He heard his father's coaxing.

Could he do it? Would his heart, which desired to experience the exhilaration and prove his bravery, convince his mind to will his legs to move him onto the platform and into a little seat to be strapped in and hurtled in all directions at great speeds? Or would the pang in his innards paralyze all else?

The battle raged within. And then, miraculously, he took one step forward...then another...and another. Then he was in the line with many people, inching forward bit by bit. Step after step and then soon he was in the seat, securely strapped in. He was beyond the point of no return.

The buzz of excited voices were close around him. Then came an explosion of speed, rush of air, hum of the tracks, screams, (some of the screams were his own) and he shut his eyes, then peeked out, then shut them, then opened them. His stomach was having an out of body experience; it was still at the platform. Then he felt it as it caught up with him and did the same dips and turns that the roller coaster did, only a millisecond after. His breath came in gasps between screams.

It was over in a few seconds. His blood, which had all but stopped during the ride, began rushing as though on it's own roller coaster ride through his body. He felt dizzy, giddy, shaky, and thrilled all at once. He had triumphed! He could hardly stop laughing.

"Let's do it again, Dad!" he exclaimed.



I didn't get any good pictures of the ride, "Wicked", (in the above picture, you can see the tower for "Wicked" on the left side) on which Onion Ring's bravery was tested, but if you want to check it out, go here; there is even a video.

Buttermilk Sky also made great strides in overcoming his fear this year at Lagoon. In the picture below you can see his face right before going on the "Spider", a roller coaster in which the car that you sit in rotates around as it speeds along the track.









Buttermilk Sky's greatest feat was going on "Colossus", the double looping roller coaster.



However, after going on these big, scary roller coasters, Buttermilk Sky said that the old white one was his favorite. Although last year when he went on it, he screamed non-stop, close to tears, that he wanted to get off and refused to ride it thereafter. So maybe next year Colossus will be his favorite.

Lagoon 2010

I like antiques. Lagoon has some antique rides, one of which is this white roller coaster. I like it.

Riding it makes you feel unsure that it will hold together. Rickety is a good descriptive word.

This video clip will give you a glimpse of the experience. Enjoy the artistic cinematography technique that I used at the end--it's called "accidentally-pushed-the-zoom-technique"--yes, I'm a natural.



Here are photos of other antique rides at Lagoon.

I wish I had pictures of the old fun house that was taken down due to safety and liability issues. Here is a description of it (that I took from this site): "(The) fun house ... featured such attractions as a multi-lane giant slide; mazes, mirrors, obstacle courses and mystery rooms; a large turntable which flung its riders off at great velocity; revolving barrels; and the ubiquitous jets of air - activated by a human operator - which startled those who were unfortunate enough to stand over them." I remember getting an awful floor burn from being flung off of the turntable when I was a kid.

Junior really liked "Bulgy the Whale".

Lagoon affects people in many ways. It brings out a wide spectrum of emotions and behaviors--at least for our boys. This year Lagoon made our boys...

scream like little girls,

laugh,

cry,

feel like they were going to be flung over the edge (anybody else familiar with the "Wild Mouse"?),

wish they hadn't ridden this ride (Junior is center of photo),

wonder why their mother put them on this dumb ride,

experience powerful centrifugal force,

pose in front of a giant spider,

take aim at innocent by-standers,

ascend to great heights (while eating saltine crackers),

fall asleep,

and something else we won't mention except to say it involved bodily functions.

What a great day!

A Tale of Four Boys (at Lagoon)

Our trip to Lagoon on Monday was the best of times, it was the worst of times--a day of wild excitement and moments of terror.

Two Mistakes

We made two mistakes at the beginning of the day. The first mistake was to take Eggs on Toast and Junior on the "Dracula's Castle" ride.

Halfway through the ride I asked Junior how he was doing and he said, "This is freaking me out!"

Eggs on Toast hid under the hood of the car the entire time.

Onion Ring and Buttermilk Sky loved Dracula's Castle and went through repeatedly.

The second mistake was to take Junior and Eggs on the "Tilt-a-Whirl". This ride looks fairly benign, but it spins fast!

Junior was screaming and crying throughout most of it.

Luckily, Eggs was fairly resiliant and was still willing to try many rides. Junior, on the other hand, was not.

Recovery and Healing

After the trauma of his first two rides, Junior screamed at the suggestion of riding any ride. Until we came to the train, that is. Then he squealed with excitement. If we would have let him, he probably would have been happy to ride this the rest of the day.

Peace?

I had to be very persuasive (meaning I grabbed him and carried his unwilling body) to get him onto the carousel, and then this was the only seat he would consent to sit in.

It was evening before I finally coaxed Junior to ride these boats.

He didn't want to ride them again because he said they were boring. I guess I couldn't argue with him there.

He needed no persuasion for the bumper cars by the end of the evening.

The Kiddie Ride Junkies

Buttermilk Sky and Eggs on Toast rode kiddie ride after kiddie ride, again and again.

Sundry

Rides of Terror

There were a handful of rides ridden by certain boys in which said certain boys experienced the greatest terror of their lives up to this point. Here are their stories:

On the white roller coaster, Buttermilk Sky was heard screaming and crying, "I want to get off! I want to get off!"

At first we thought Buttermilk Sky was screaming because of all the fun he was having on this one, but then we realized it was uncontrollable terror.

We've already discussed "Dracula's Castle".

And we've already discussed the "Tilt-a-Whirl".

This ride, the "Dinosaur Drop" is a kiddie version of "The Rocket" and Buttermilk Sky loved it and rode it many times. However, after a couple of ups and downs, Eggs on Toast began to scream and cry uncontrollably.

Let's hope they have all successfully recovered from their trauma.

The Granny

After spinning on the "Tilt-a-Whirl" and riding the white roller coaster, I felt a tad queasy. Gone are the days of riding whatever I want with no ill effects, I guess. Consequently, my choice of rides after that was rather conservative. Surprisingly (because I've never cared too much for it before), I really, really loved the ferris wheel...

...despite the fact that we had to drag Junior on, kicking and screaming.

It was a smooth, relaxing ride with a great view,

and we were all able to sit together.

Oh, and look at Junior! It wasn't so bad, after all.

The Dare Devils

Onion Ring really surprised us with his fearlessness. Especially since he is normally a bit of a worrier.

He and Brandon bonded in their love of the thrilling rides.

Brandon really enjoyed "Wicked" (not pictured) and "The Rocket" (below).

The tall structure to the right is the tower of "The Rocket" which lifts the seats to the top and then drops them and lets them bounce.

Onion Ring loved "Colossus" which you can see in the far left background of this photo.

I didn't get many good shots of these dare devils on their rides because while they were having their bodies hurtled around in all directions, I was hanging out in the kiddie ride section.

But I'd say they had a mighty fine time.

Recap: The Faves

Junior's fave:

Eggs on Toast's fave:

Buttermilk Sky's fave:

Onion Ring's fave:

Brandon's fave:

My fave.