Six Flags -" More Flags, More Fun".....unless you are Finley

Saturday we went to Six Flags New England. Mat and Arlington have annual passes, and Arlington has been wanting to make another trip for awhile. So Mat decided we should do something fun this weekend, and I chose Six Flags.


Arlington Met some of her favorite super heroes.



Finley was not sure what to think of Wonder Woman. She was very facinated with her outfit. And her size.


We got up at a reasonable time and were on the road by 8:45am. We are only 1 hour from the park, and wanted to be there in time for it to open at 10am, so we left early. Everyone was up and excited and ready to go.

We got to the park and – because we were once Disney World junkies – we know to start at the back of the park and make our way forward to miss a lot of crowds. It works every time people – totally try it when you try amusement parks (or even Disney World) in the summer.


Arlington is a roller coaster junkie. There was one roller coaster in particular she wanted to ride that gets a little busy during the day, so she and Mat headed for that first. I was in charge of the little ones during this time. I USED to be a coaster rider, but I am too old now. (ha ha). I get much to dizzy on those things, so I just sit and watch. The coaster Arlington wanted to ride was a wild mouse type of ride, but the kicker was – it SPUN while it went around the coaster. I would have thrown up for sure. And when she rides – she rides for the thrill. Mat told me that you could spin the car to face any direction before you started the ride, and Arlington wanted to point it so that she and Mat were facing down, and she had her hands in the air. Crazy weirdo. She is fearless.


Arlington rode that coaster three times before Mat told her it was time for a break. But before joining us, they rode another spinning ride. Even Mat was feeling a little green after all that.

Anyway, while Arlington was thrill seeking, I took the babies to one of three kiddie lands that Six Flags offers. Now, we went because Mat told me how “young kid friendly” Six Flags New England is. He is right. There are three different kiddie lands with TONS of rides. Plus a few more outside of Kiddie land that the little ones are tall enough to ride.



Today I learned a valuable lesson. Just because a child is TALL enough for a ride, doesn't mean he or she will want to ride it.


Yeah.

Now, remember who my first child is. Arlington – aka fearless thrill seeker. At the age of 1 ½ she was riding rides in amusement parks with shrieks of delight. By three she was riding her first roller coaster. At age 6, she stands by the roller coasters with loops and sighs heavy with envy.

So, it was reasonable to think that Finley – aka crazy maniac – would follow in her sisters footsteps.


Not So.

While Arlington and Mat were off riding a roller coaster, I was left with Finley and Cainan in one of the kiddie areas. We walked around and looked at the rides, deciding what we would try first. We settled on a space ship ride – one of those rides that goes around and around, and – if you are strong enough – will also go up in the air while going around and around. We get in line (well, no line at all – we were the only ones there) and Cainan says he doesn't want to go. But Finley says sure. So I put Finley in the little ship, and buckle her seatbelt. The ride operator is very sweet with her and talks to her about the ride and what to do if she wanted to make it go up and down. Finley nods, and looks at me. As soon as the ride operator leaves her side and Finley is left all alone, she starts to cry. Then she starts to freak out. Then she starts go try and claw her way out of the ship – pulling and tugging on the seatbelt.


So that was that. No space ship ride for her. Nope.

So I apologized and we leave and we look around for something that maybe mommy can ride too, as to not freak her out. She and I and Cainan did ride a car ride all together, and that she loved. We rode it several times.


Then we went BACK to the spaceships. At this time, she has decided she wants to try them again, and now that Cainan had ridden a ride, and realized that they won't kill him, he is game to go with her.


Success! They ride together. They don't ever make their ship go up in the air, and they are clutching the side of the spaceship with dear life, but they are in it!! And they are riding it!

Arlington then joins us, and coaxes us to try this bus ride.


You have all seen it – the ride that goes up in the air, and comes down kind of fast (if you are an adult), or super slow, if you are in kiddie land. The three kids and I got on. Cainan loved it – he loves buses, and that is all he needed. Finley on the other hand – once it went up and came back down, she climbed onto my lap so fast and clutched the bar with white knuckles.


I was slowly scarring her for life.
But I wasn't finished yet.

We rode a few more things in the kiddie area, and then Arlington really wanted to ride the water ride where you sit in a circle boat – about 8 people around it – and travel down a white water type river. At Kennywood, near Pittsburgh, it is called Raging Rapids. Can you all picture it now?? Are you in disbelief that I took Finley on this ride? You should be.

But she WAS tall enough.

So we get on, and she is fine at first – things the whole “inner tube” looking thing is cool. Then we get a smidge wet.

It was all over. She was desperately trying to get out of her seat. And honestly, I couldn't blame her. It was much rougher than I remember – we spun and spun and got really, REALLY soaked. One time we were heading for a water fall, and I saw this being where Finley lost if for sure, so I leaned over her to keep her from getting soaked, and I was wetter than I have ever been on a ride.

Ah, the things we do to for our kids.

Finley was not pleased after this ride, so it was time to take a break and eat some lunch. That got her pepped up to go on to the next kiddie area. Here she tried a few rides, a few rides she tried to escape from and didn't ever go on them.


I did take her on the kiddie roller coaster. This thing isn't bad for a kid roller coaster. Cainan went too.


Finley did ride this twice. Why, I really don't know. I rode with her both times, and both times, once we were strapped in, and the handle bar came down across out lap, she said, “I wanna get off mommy”.

Too bad kid. Bar is down, we are going no matter what.

But she did okay – she didn't cry or scream. Two school age girls sat in front of us the second time and they just stared and stared at her. I am sure they were admiring how young and brave she was. Or they were thinking, “what kind of mother takes a three year old on a roller coaster?”

Like I said, she was TALL enough!! She should at least try it.


Finley and Cainan rode a few more kiddie rides during the day, and enjoyed a lot of good food. We had funnel cakes.



And french fries. And ice cream. And a lot to drink.

Oh, and real food too. We even had Chinese food for lunch! Arlington had said to Cainan:
“Cainan, you know you come from China, right? Well guess what! Six Flags has Chinese food!”

He was super thrilled to hear that. Let me tell ya.

He was thrilled to get to meet his favorite super hero, Batman, though.


He also got a little stuffed Batman to take home.



We took the kids on a Merry Go Round. Who doesn't like the Merry Go Round? Finley. That's who. She loved the idea of picking a horse, and sitting on it, and giving it a name. The ride started. She was fine at first. Up and down – thought it was funny (because I was standing beside her) that I would get smaller then taller. Then it got a wee bit faster, and she freaked out.

The first time Arlington rode a merry go around she wasn't even two. She clapped and shouted “again! Again!”

Finley tried to get off and clutch me around my neck. This made for an interesting scene because the horse was going up and down, and I am not very tall. I was really having to stretch so she wouldn't fall off. She was belted on, but she was leaning so far to the side she was basically on the side of the horse trying to get to me. I did convince her that I had her, and she wouldn't fall, and she settled a bit. But she was ready to get off.

I do think that the round and round motion may bother her a bit. Also the back and forth. And the up and down.......

We rode a Pirate Ship type ride that swung back and forth (it was a kiddie ride) and she didn't like that much either.



The funny thing was – she would ask to ride them, then once she got on, the anticipation would get the best of her, and she would get a little worked up. Sometimes I could keep her on the ride. Sometimes I couldn't.



But Arlington had a blast. We all did. Finley and Cainan didn't seem to mind much that they didn't like the rides. They have fun running around, watching the shows, and eating as much as they could. We left at 8pm, and before we were 5 miles away, everyone was asleep.


I hope you enjoyed the pictures. I will see you Tuesday!