Today was day one of the Weekend of Fall Fun. We took Great America by storm.
You can tell who was born when by what they call the park. Younguns call it Six Flags. To our generation, it will always be Great America. Secretly, it's still Marriott's to us. As long as they still have the Eagle, I don't care what you call it.
The drive was fun, mostly because Kelly brought sustenance for the journey. It's truly fall now, because we've had pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
We met at Gurnee Mills, and everyone piled into the Jeep of Love so we could park close and for free, since Aubri has preferred parking. Seriously, the 12-year-old has parking privileges. The little man who directed us to parking seemed surprised when I kissed him, but he offered his other cheek too, so I don't think he minded.
We spent most of the day wandering around soaking up the atmosphere. We saw one of the shows, enjoyed one of the haunted houses, and rode the Eagle. Other than that, we really just wandered and enjoyed being together in a place that was all about fun. In the haunted house, Kelly was scared. Scared enough that she actually thought I'd protect her. She was a real trouper until the chainsaw guy came at her. And his friend came from behind. Then, she turned into a big chicken. She tried to melt into the pavement. She only proceeded in squeezing through Patrick's legs. Oh, sure, that's going to protect you.
The street performers were amazing. They were dressed as werewolves (there wolves!) and vampires and trolls, and they had great characters and costumes. It really set a great mood.
The only line we waited in was for food. It shouldn't take an hour to get amusement park Chinese food, but it did. It was good, though, so I'm not gonna complain.
By the end of the evening, we all felt like old friends, even though Patrick's only met Amber once and none of us knew Melissa and Michelle was new to the group, too. The thing that just gets me is, it doesn't matter how well we know you. If you know someone we love, we will love you, too. And you will spend your day laughing and joking with us as if we've known you all our lives. That's part of what makes us special, I think. That and the insanity.
More tomorrow. The orchard will never be the same.
3 comments:
Mike, Caetie, and I had fun at Great America, too! It was good to "bump" into you.
The freaks talked me into going on the giant drop. I kept my eyes closed the whole time.
We went to the haunted house first thing and it sucked. I hated it. I feel like I wasted my money. Call me quirky, but I want to SEE the things that are scaring me.
I stared down the guy with the chainsaw and he left me alone. Funny, they only chase after the people screaming and running, LOL!
We did all of the smaller rides and had a great time, mostly, well once the kids stopped asking me if we could leave. (Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?)
We had a picnic in the parking lot of peanut butter and jelly and jokes.
We got in line late at night on the Balloon ride in New Orleans Place and there were a couple of girls that ran into the line to get away from the "scary clowns" that roam the place. Well, he waited until they were in line and then crept up behind them on the outside of the fence. That was funny.
We got to ride Hometown Fun Machine and Triple Play and the Whirlygig.
Isn't the giant pumpkin guy amazing when you walk into the park?
We laughed a lot and our legs felt like we'd walked a marathon when we got to the car.
All in all it was a great time for us, too!
The scary pumpkin guy is so cool! I love how he resides over the bloody reflecting pond.
I've never been on the Giant Drop. I'm not in any hurry to change that!
It was fun to bump into you, too! Which of us is the needle and which is the haystack?
the needle is the smaller group and the haystack is the larger group. In numbers, that is, just so I don't get myself in trouble. 7 is more than 5...
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