Six Flags Great America

Among the perks of our local school system is the kids can earn free tickets to Six Flags if they complete a reading challenge. In the past, I've forgone the trip to Gurnee because it's still wildly expensive, especially to drag along tiny tots who can't ride most of the rides anyway. This year, I received a couple of extra free tickets so everyone was free (minus the exorbitant parking fee, of course). We were lined up at the gate nice and early and I made a beeline for The Goliath.

The Goliath has a vertical drop that honestly, I'm not sure I could stomach with my own fear of heights. However, I figured if Liesel and Ireland rode this as their very first ever roller coaster, then anything else would be gravy. They were pretty annoyed with me and VERY apprehensive about going even though there was no line! Check out their pre-ride faces.

And check out the ride itself.

But check out these faces once they came off the ride! They were so exhilarated. However, they did decline to go again even though there was still no line- haha!

My favorite amusement park ride is the simple one with swings. Unfortunately, the two little ones weren't tall enough and I couldn't leave them alone so this is as close as we got.

Not gonna lie, they were pretty disappointed about that one.

Liesel and Ireland loved it though!

Meanwhile, Brigitta and Sydney entertained themselves with these hats. 

Who would buy those?

Emboldened by their newfound roller coaster savvy, Liesel and Ireland tried the American Eagle before we met up with our friends.

Oh the joys of riding the top floor of the double-decker carousel!

In reality, it's not that big of a deal but in a child's mind, it's pure magic!

As we wandered through the park, I was happy to take the younger kids on the smaller rides. I wasn't feeling great and the heat was starting to get to me. We found this ride that even Sydney was tall enough to ride without a parent and I rested on a nearby bench while the younger three waited in line. I struck up a conversation with a woman sitting next to me who, turns out used to live where I served my mission in East LA! We talked about the huge cemetery and the Mercado and the vendors who sell tamales and elote from their carts. What are the chances I would run into her in Illinois? I had to wonder what the chances were I'd talked to her as a missionary since I served in that area for 7 months. 

I was ready to try out a ride when we all joined together again and Buccaneer Bay seemed perfect to cool off as well. My friend Lindsey made a passing comment about how people can spray you but nothing else. We were SOAKED and I mean as wet as if I'd jumped in the water with all my clothes on! Derek was intent on hitting his sister with water and guess who was sitting right behind her? That ride was just continual shock at water coming from all different angles unexpectedly. At one point, Matthew and I looked at each other with our hands up in the air knowing we were helpless to stop the onslaught.

Oh yeah, people in other boats can spray you with water too. Took us a little while to figure that one out but once we did I went nuts on them. I cranked my gun with a fury I have not felt in quite a while.

Yeah, Derek is the only dry one in the this photo- the rest of us were so wet and Lindsey was laughing heartily.

She said she tried to warn me that people can spray you. 

 The older kids were restless to hit the bigger coasters and so were the adults so I was again happy to order some food and hang our with the littles. We actually had a lot of fun with our plates of fried food, especially the hand-dipped corn dogs!

I passed the time chatting with the kids and playing with Snap Chat filters:

 Maybe that sounds lame but Becky snapped this picture when she came back from a ride and you can see we were honestly having so much fun! We all felt rested enough to take on some more rides.

 Everyone really liked the Whizzer so we went on that one a couple of times. The little girls also loved the Little Dipper- it was the perfect roller coaster for them. Still not feeling well, and facing a drive home I was ready to pack it in. I suppose I shouldn't have been shocked by all the tears because everyone was having a great time. Friends volunteered to keep the older two who don't require booster seats anymore. A very doleful Brigitta and Sydney reluctantly came with me towards the park entrance. The least I could do was let them play in the water of the reflecting pool!

There's that magical carousel!

Fortunately, the school district does this reading challenge every year. Before we left the park, everyone agreed it would be a fun tradition to continue next summer. The girls poured over the park map after they came home and started plotting out the rides they would hit first next summer. Of all the things we did this summer, Six Flags was far and away their favorite!