Hills and Valleys

We hit the hills of NC this weekend with the little people.  A road trip with the whole fam damily.
Ostensibly it was to be a reunion lunch for Mommy and an old friend, but turned into so much more than just a get-together at Hot Dog World.

My kids got to visit a real gymnastics gym-not the pony and princess kind.  The real deal-no AC, lots of equipment that was unidentifiable to the untrained eye (mine) and jackpot...a huge runway with springs that launched my little people into a sea of smelly foam chunks.  They were in absolute heaven.

We then took them gem mining in a torrential thunderstorm.  I forgot what thunder sounds like at higher elevations.  Loud.  They had a ball, though.  Each came home with a glass jar full of precious finds-huge nuggets of emeralds and sapphires.  Probably nothing I can cash in to pay for college but they think they are rich beyond measure.  And of course, they are.

Today I took my older ones to Carowinds (Six Flags, for my STL reader).  I had promised them a trip at the beginning of the summer and they did not forget!  So why can't they remember to turn off lights, put their shoes away or come home on time?

Observations:
1.  I may as well have taped tens and twentys all over my person and just walked around the park, letting the birds of prey vendors rip me off.  My, how pricey things are.  $64 on food and games and what did we consume?  Funnel cake (a first for my kids so TOTALLY worth it), Dippin' Dots, Icees, fresh squeezed lemonade and 2 games so each could win a stuffed animal (which they did).  Not anything from the food pyramid, but fun.

2.  No one in our party of 3 wanted to ride the "big" roller coasters.  We are all cut from a similar cloth where that is concerned, apparently.  We rode a few and did all the water ones that were open. But the ones called the HURLER and INTIMIDATOR, we passed on by.  I thought maybe Gogo would want to try some but thankfully, she didn't.  I remember getting car sick riding 20 minutes to the mall when I was a kid so something where you appear to be strapped in my your neck didn't really appeal to my stomach.

3.  Speaking of Gogo, that girl can SCREAM.  Oh my word.  I sat by her on one and I swear to Pete I was hearing challenged when we exited.  She could be taped for a horror film, that one and her screams.

4.  At one point I looked back at D, who wanted to ride by himself, and he was the color of a spilled bottle of White-Out, his mouth forming a perfect "O".
I silently prayed he wasn't about to spray the backs of Gogo and I before we touched back to Earth.  Nothing a little Icee couldn't cure 5 minutes later.

We were hot and tired at the end but we had a great time - Agent P hung out with a new sitter and she apparently loved her.  Woke up from her nap talking about her which is a good sign.

All in all, a good day.