Mini Vacation, Day 1

We finally got to take the mini vacation originally played for May 4. We had to cancel our plans then and for our back-up date of May 18 because of bad weather. This was our third and final attempt to make the trip happen. Fortunately, it was a perfect weekend for a short getaway.

We left on Thursday morning at 6:15 and drove straight to Six Flags Great Adventure. It is a 4 hour drive. We made one stop for a bathroom and food break and got there around park opening at 1030. There were very few cars in the parking lot, but several buses. By several, I mean around 2 dozen. Most appeared to be celebrating 8th grade graduations (judging by the various shirts we saw, several schools were represented). Unfortunately, we forgot Luke's stroller. His stroller is a source of annoyance for me. It rattles around in the back of the van and makes it difficult to put in groceries or other items. It is always there, even though we very rarely use it. Eventually, I take it out for some reason or another (after months of non-use) and then I forgot to put it back right before we actually need it. A vicious cycle I have found myself in more than once.

However, Luke was fantastic. We ended up walking 9 miles and he didn't complain once. We offered to rent him a stroller, but he wanted to walk and he never wavered. Despite all the buses, the crowds felt very light and we had very minimal wait times. Everyone had a fantastic time. The only complaint I could make was that El Toro, which is routinely ranked as one of the best coasters in the country, was down all day. We rode everything we wanted to ride and even did the safari. We saw many animals, including tigers, peacocks, elephants, giraffes, ostrich, bison, bears, rhinos, etc. There were a few babies and the animals were active, Spring is definitely a good season to visit.

By 5, most of the school groups had left and the park went from light crowds to almost no crowds. We walked right on any ride we wanted to go on. A few rides, we just stayed on and rode over and over again. A while back I read about rich families renting out theme parks, now I can relate!

We stayed until the park closed and then made the drive to our hotel, a Homewood Suites about 45 minutes from Six Flags. We didn't have to talk anyone into being quiet, everyone was asleep within minutes. Day one was a definite success!

One of the first rides of the day, Luke had it all to himself and rode twice.

I stayed on the ground, but everyone else is up there!

Anna and Kara are sitting in the front row. They were the only riders. Living the life of the rich and famous!

Luke insisted I take his picture in this tree. 

Their best roller coaster faces!

We did a photo shoot while waiting for Thomas and Jack to ride Kingda Ka

Luke was quite a trooper

The pink poop emoji hat may detract a bit from this shot :)