Wheeee!!!!

What a day we had yesterday!! I took just Justin to Six Flags in Gurnee Il, and we had a blast!

Each year, his school does a reading log for a month in which they need to reach a certain # of hours read to earn a free ticket. Justin usually meets the required amount in a week or so, so we get the free ticket each time. I could have taken the little ones, too, as there are a lot of rides for the younger crowd, but I hate the idea of wasting all of the money for parking and food and all the other tickets just so they can ride some kiddie carnival rides. But that's me. I want the SPEED!!

We got there about an hour later than planned. I had heard that there was a serious accident on the highway I was going to take, so my dad suggested an alternate route through many cornfields and small towns. He said to take one road to another road and it takes you "right there!"

Um. No, Dad. Not right there. Took me to the interstate that I was supposed to get onto, but he never told me THAT part, and I follow directions literally to the T. So. Justin and I spent an hour STUCK in Lake Forest (There are a zillion Lakes and Forests and Oaks and Parks and Groves in Chicagoland. Put any two of those words together, in any order, and you've probably named a town in Chicago. Original, eh?). Now, I had never been in Lake Forest. Well, at least not since an aunt moved from there 15 years ago. And, um. I was FLOORED. Gorgeous. Beautiful homes, trees, gardens... I'm always amazed at the amount of wealthy people in the world. I mean, TRULY wealthy. Astonishing. I initially said to Justin, "If we had to be lost somewhere, at least it's pretty here, right?" Well, the guy who laid out the roads for Lake Forest was on CRACK I tell you! Curvy roads are all they have, narrow as a sidewalk, and leading to nowhere at times!! I drove around and around, just looking for a landmark to figure out where the hell I was, then parked when I finally found the train station, and called my brother in law, since I didn't have my map. (WHY would I need a map? I've been going to Great America for 25 years!) He saved the day, and we finally made it there around noon.

We were determined to not let this ruin our day. We shook off the frustration (i.e. I shook it off)
and headed into the park.

What a great day! We had some other inconveniences. Situations that truly could have ruined our day, but I was SO proud of how he handled himself! Makes me wonder if the problems were truly being worsened by the Strattera? I guess I'll never know for sure, but I am glad we seem to be on a better streak. For instance, we sat down to watch a show (Spy Girl Stunt Show) and got all settled. We had planned it for 2 hours, got GREAT seats and popcorn, and, just as the show was about to start, it began to drizzle.... so it got canceled. And this was the LAST show of the day.... And he was soooo sad. SO sad. But, after a while, he managed to move past it, and we just enjoyed the rest of the day.

We did agree that yesterday was the day for small stuff to go wrong. The intermittent rain changed our plans several times, a nose bleed on a ride caused it to close down temporarily so the hazmat guys could clean it up (crazy how they got their fancy gloves and bags and all, and then just threw the gloves in the trash...), getting lost, etc. But, overall, it was a blast!

We are now recovering at home, with the rain pouring down outside (water my cucumbers! They're huge!). The boys are playing Spongebob on XBox, and Corinne is pretending to type next to my hands (so cute).

I do have a few posts brewing in my head about theme parks.
For example:
-popping your beloved's zits in line is not acceptable.
-twelve year olds should NOT wear booty shorts and low cut shirts. Have some respect for your body and pay attention to what your DAUGHTER is wearing.
-WHY does it cost $3 for a bottle of water at a theme park? Whatever happened to free water?
- Let's have some courtesy in line, kay? Language that is appropriate and keeping your hands out of your boyfriend's pants isn't asking too much, is it?