Philadelphia Trip, Day 3

Everyone was awake early again on Sunday morning. We had our hotel breakfast and then headed to our first destination--Monmouth Battlefield. The land was bought by the State of New Jersey and it was our first time visiting a Revolutionary Battlefield that was a state park and not a National Park. However, it was extremely well-preserved and very beautiful. We walked around the visitor's center, saw a short film and then explored outside for a little bit. While exploring we walked down a huge hill, across a bridge, through a bit of a corn field and then back over another bridge. While walking this path, we came across an area with thousands of grasshoppers. It was the strangest thing, they were just bouncing off our legs as we walked. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture, but it was very weird.

Can you find something that doesn't quite belong in this picture???

Another beautiful battle site, almost seems wrong that all these places are so pretty.

Then, it was off to Six Flags Great Adventure. Our season passes are good at all Six Flags, so it seemed like a good way to spend part of our last day. Since it was off-season and a Sunday, we did not expect it to be crowded. However, by our standards it certainly was! We got into the park shortly after they opened at 11 (it was only a few minutes from Monmouth) and headed straight for the Safari. They have one of the largest drive-through Safaris outside of Africa. The tour actually lasted 45-minutes, which was much more than we expected. We saw some amazing animals, including the world's most adorable baby giraffe--only two weeks old!! It was a good time of year to visit, because there were several baby animals, but the giraffe was everyone's favorite.

After the tour, Kara decided she wanted to try out a small roller coaster, unfortunately, she hated it. Jack and Anna (and Thomas and I) love roller coasters, but Kara hates "big hills." This roller coaster (I use the term loosely) didn't have any big drops, but it was fast and loud. We rode a few kid rides, as Luke was about to mutiny, and then had our lunch. Then, we went on a ride that was actually fun for everyone, the Parachute Training Center.  It lifts you 250 feet into the air and then you slowly come back down. 250' is really high! I sat with Jack and Luke and was really nervous for Luke (and kept a tight grip on him!), but he did fine. It was our first family ride that had a bit of a thrill.

Anna is a little nervous about heights, but she decided she wanted to give it a try anyway.

On the trick-or-treat trail. They actually got some good candy.

Luke did not like this ride. He was very scared and we felt terrible! He's extremely daring, but usually he has a big sibling or parent next to him.

The lines were long for the major attractions, so Thomas and I had to skip the big rides. They actually have the fastest and tallest coaster in North America and Thomas really wanted to ride. Next time! He and Jack did ride one stand-up roller coaster, which reinjured Thomas' head. It was his first day headache free and the bumpy coaster ruined that for him. We should have known better when there was no wait for that particular coaster (they have something like 13 roller coasters). In contrast, the one we had heard was really good had an hour wait.

The kids rode several more rides, we had dinner and left around 6. The haunt people were starting to arrive, which meant it was time for us to depart. The drive home was (thankfully) uneventful and everyone was in their own bed by 10. The park is a lot bigger than our usual Six Flags, but it was also much more crowded. Their "light" day was comparable to a fairly busy day at the Maryland park. There were more (and better) rides and better food selections in New Jersey, but our park is just right for our family, although, I do hope to visit the New Jersey park again to ride some of the coasters that we missed on this visit.

Overall, it was a great trip. It wasn't fun that Thomas spent so much of it in pain, but he is a trooper and pushed through with nary a complaint. With a few exceptions, the kids were great and got along well. I can't wait to go back!