Our annual trip to Six Flags over GA

For the past few years, the children have earned free tickets to Six Flags through their reading program. One of the MOMYS (Mothers of Many Young Siblings) organizes a group for homeschoolers. I also get a free ticket as their teacher. :-)

This year, we went on July 20. It was a wonderful day! The weather was perfect - sunny but not too hot. Best of all, Trey did not throw up! The previous trips, he has always gotten very sick before we even get out of GA.

Sarah was too old to earn a free ticket this year and she doesn't like amusement parks anyway. (What's up with that?) She asked if she could stay with Aunt Beth, which was fine with all of us. The night before we went, we realized that bringing Rebekah would only strain our day more. She also went to Beth's and they all had a wonderful day according to all reports.

We got to Six Flags at around eleven o-clock after a brief pitstop at the GA Welcome Center. We paid extra and parked in premium parking which was well worth it. I handed each boy a bagel and a bottle of water and we headed for the park. I had paid for a ticket for Li'L John on-line and printed it at Beth's when we dropped the girl's off, so we were able to go right to the entrance gate. I was surprised when security told me I wasn't allowed to wear a bandana in the park, but when I explained it was for religious reasons, they allowed me to keep it on. I think if it had been plain white like I usually wear, it wold have been fine. They said the problem was gangs wear certain printed bandanas so they have banned all printed bandanas.

The first thing we did was split up to go to our favorite roller coasters. I took Bob, William, and Jeffrey to Dahlonga Mine Train. It is a moderately thrilling coaster which was just enough for us. Okay, a bit much for William. He had been sad up to that point that he wasn't tall enough for the Superman:Ultimate Flight. After the Mine train, he wasn't sure he would ever go on a roller coaster again. He was okay once we got off, but he was screaming the whole way around.

John and Trey went on Goliath. The Six Flag site describes it as "It’s big, it’s mean, and it wants to take you for a ride. Meet Goliath—the gigantic steel coaster the other rides call 'Sir.' " Ask them about it sometime. They love to describe it in detail.

We met up near the carousel. Jeffrey rode it 5 times. There are other rides near there that the children enjoy. Bob rode the hot air balloon ride 3 times (at least) and Trey and William drove the Hanson cars. Some of the boys also rode the Rockin' Tugboat. John and I sat and rested in the rocking chairs around the carousel.

Next,we headed for the bumper cars. The line was quick, so the boys went on it again while I took someone (Jeffrey?)to the restroom. We briefly considered going on Splash Water Falls, as it had just opened, but the line was already very long, so we headed out of the park for lunch.

There was a nice, covered area near the entrance where they sell tickets on the more crowded days. This day the area was mostly deserted. I left John there with most of the boys and walked to the car with Trey to get lunch. I got new water bottles for everyone and Coke for John and me. I was able to fit all that in my backpack along with the bologna. Then I just had to carry the sandwich rolls and pretzels which all fit in one ziploc bag. Once back at our "picnic area" John made the sandwiches and we had a nice relaxing lunch.

When we got back into the park, we headed for the Gotham area. Trey and Bob rode the Gotham City Crime Wave (swings ride) and then we all looked at the Bat Mobile. After that, the boys wanted to go to the go-cart ride. They were so disappointed that it cost extra. :-(

We rested for a while in the Thomas the Tank Engine area while the boys played on the playground. Then they decided if the couldn't do go-carts, they wanted to drive something. I took Bob to the Hanson Cars while John took the other boys back to the bumper cars. We agreed to meet up at the Log Flume. We should have meet at the carousel again, as there is so much there that the boys enjoy.

Our last ride was the Log Flume. Jeffrey didn't want to go but both John and I did so he had no choice. William was nervous at first, but he decided to enjoy it and did.

That was our last ride for the day. We didn't have much traffic on the way home and got to Beth's around 8:00. John dropped us off and and went to get some McDonald's for dinner. He got gas while out and returned the Suburban to his parents after dropping off dinner.

All in all, a wonderful day. And Trey never got sick. :-D (By bedtime, the other three boys felt yucky, but no one did get sick.)