Cedar Point!

 Sunday afternoon, we picked up our rent-a-child, Taylor (she went on vacation with us last year, too) and went to Ohio!

I haven't been to Cedar Point in 24 years - I only know that because that's how old my niece Catie is, and she was only a couple weeks old last time we were there.  

In the car

 Yay!

 We had dinner Sunday night at a place along Fun Dr. 

 I was informed that I need Randy's approval before ever making hotel reservations online again.  The HoJo we stayed at was clearly not a 5 star establishment.  It was an older hotel & the wifi sucked badly.  Angel was able to connect with her iPod,  Taylor and I could see but not connect with our iPhones & Randy didn't even get a signal on his Android.  There were water leakage marks on the ceiling & dirty cobwebs, etc.  But the beds were clean & the shower worked well & we had no neighbors.  It was a place to sleep. I heard about the damn lack of wifi 1000 times!   But that sign was kitty-corner across the intersection from us!

We didn't go see the dinosaurs, but they were all over the park. 

Randy isn't one to go on roller coasters & such, but the girls & I hit all the major coasters...Raptor (feet dangle), Mantis (you stand up!), Millennium Force (the longest wait in line, about an hour), the Dragster (the only one I felt a twinge of fear before getting on), the new Gatekeeper (another feet dangle one) and some of the older coasters I remember from last time I was there - the Gemini that Randy actually went on, the Corkscrew, the Magnum, the Iron Dragon (their very first coaster that hangs below the track. I can't believe I thought this was awesome last time - it was lame!)

 Dragster was pretty kick ass.  The girls sat next to each other and I was directly behind them.  This ride lasts 17 seconds and you hit 120 mph and go 420 feet in the air.  A teenage boy got in the car next to me and I apologized in advance for the screaming I was about to do.  He said that was ok, since he'd be screaming with me!  LOL!!  

The wooden Gemini is the first coaster I ever went on when I was like 10.  

I tagged along after Dad and we were in the front car. 

The force of the first hill pushed my head down between my knees and I never could straighten back up! 

 We rode on the old cars. 

 Rawr!

On the ferris wheel with my sweetie!

It was a lot of fun.  Randy patiently waited for us while we went on rides.  He only went on a few. He had some really good people watching opportunities!  

We had gotten there when the park opened at 10am (also, the next time we're going to get a hotel that allows us to get in at 9) and by the time we hit all these rides, plus some (I didn't go on the water rides, but the girls did, so we waited on a shady bench) and when we finally got off the Gatekeeper it was around 7 pm.  I can walk all day, but standing in line killed my ankles. Plus the Magnum rattled so much that I had a headache.  I was done.  And so was everyone else.  We had paid for preferred parking, so we came out of the main gate, crossed the street and there was the car.  yay!  As we left that park and crossed the causeway, we saw some dark clouds & lightning.  So we had left at the right time!  

By the time we got gas, had dinner, drove back to Michigan, dropped Taylor off at home...we were home by 11:30.  We didn't bother to shower or anything - just fell into bed. 

It was a lot of walking, a lot of people, but a lot of fun!  I don't think I'll wait another 24 years before going again.  Next time we'll get the Fast Pass, so we will have much shorter lines to wait in!

How was your weekend?