***Cheesy Non-Substantive Family Post Alert***

We spent Friday at Six Flags Over Texas, making a one day run that would’ve made Smokey and the Bandit jealous. (Good grief, an opening reference to a movie that came out in 1977). Kadie took our oldest two while each of Kadie’s sisters came along, PT Girl and Nellie. Nellie and her husband are missionaries to a Middle Eastern Country (her husband is an Arab) and they have two teenage daughters. They don’t get to return to the States that often (the daughters haven’t been here in five years) and we wanted to take them to an all American place of fun.

The high was 102, but we kept well hydrated and I’m sure that the heat kept some people away. In addition, school had started and few parents were apparently as hooky permissive as were we. I was concerned about the few operating hours (they were open from 11 to 6 instead of their normal 10 to 9) but we rode far more rides than normal due to the paucity of people. (I rode the Texas Giant three times straight at one point because no one else wanted to get on!).

Some thoughts:

I am always amazed at how vibrating kids, quivering with excitement and fueled the sugar rush from junk food coursing through their veins can be reduced to an almost unconscious state by a day out in the heat and constant walking over the course of seven short hours. The kids were WIPED OUT.

The food prices at Six Flags are obscene. They make airline terminal restaurants seem reasonable. $9.00 for a hamburger combo meal?! I’ll pass.

The older I get, the less scary roller coasters become.

Apparently many people think that it is entirely appropriate to wear a bikini to an amusement park.

You know you are getting old when you think "These shows look more interesting than the rides."


Skeeter continued her tradition of consistently getting lost in family outings. She has been lost in the Denver zoo and in several malls along the I-20 and I-35 Texas corridor. She oftentimes walks along, thinking her own thoughts, oblivious to the world around her.

Right after we arrived at Six Flags, I showed her several workers with their distinctive red shirts. I said “Now, if you get lost, just go up to one of them and tell them that you are lost.”

Seven hours later, at closing time, Karen, Nellie and three of the girls went into a restroom. Skeeter kept walking along. (PT Girl and I were in another part of the park, catching one more ride on the Titan.) Skeeter immediately found a worker, walked up and said “I am lost.” She told me later “I almost cried, but I didn’t.”

The only other loss was my brand new BU hat, which Kadie was wearing on the La Vibora ride. The bill caugfht a wind draft and shot off her head like a green and gold rocket. We reported it missing and they said that they would mail it to us in the next few days.

A wonderful day of fun had by all!!!!!