kickin' off summer

The first full weekend of summer, we took the boys to Dallas for a few days just to get away and kick the summer off right!! Our "family vacations" this year are going to be used visiting family all over the country so we wanted to get away just the four of us even if it was just for a few days...and we had a BLAST!!!! There's something about staying in a hotel that just makes you feel like you're really "getting away" even if you're only a few short hours from home. We woke up early on the first day of our weekend getaway and got dressed and ready for a day at Six Flags!! The boys LOVE Six Flags!! This is their second time to go so they were especially excited because this time around they knew what to expect and knew exactly what rides they wanted to go on!! I was excited too!! However...Brandon and I know we're getting old because this is probably our first trip to a theme park where we couldn't have cared less if we got to ride some giant, super speed and scary roller coaster ride. In fact, we were hoping we wouldn't have to!! Ha!! We were perfectly content to watch the boys ride kiddie rides and ride the moderate rides along with them. A friend of mine joked that that doesn't count as old yet...that you REALLY know you're old when you pay to get into a theme park and then simply want to sit in the shade and eat funnel cake!! Ha!! I think we're almost there...

We started our morning in kiddie land. It's always nice to get the boys' feet wet with some slower rides so that they don't get scared going right to something bigger!! Plus, these are fun too!! It was both good and bad that the weather in Dallas that morning was rainy and a bit cool. Not "cool" I guess by normal standards but "cool" for a Texas summer. We were glad to not be dying of heat exhaustion after only being in the park for 30 minutes...but at the same time it was almost too chilly to ride all of the water rides. I guess it had its ups and downs.

Brandon and I were laughing SO HARD when the boys rode this ride. Ashtyn hooped and hollared  and laughed and screamed all the way through the ride but Maddox refused to make a peep!! You could tell by the look on his face that he wanted to but, honestly, I think he was just "too cool" to let anyone know he was having a good time!! Ha!! He kept his lips pursed and his eyes straight forward and anytime the ride made a sudden movement his facial expression would slightly react but he would quickly recover and go back to his straight faced posture. I'm telling you, he's a grown man trapped in a 5 year old body!!

We figured out pretty quickly that Ashtyn is going to be like his daddy and can't ride rides that spin in circles. Brandon has always gotten sick on these types of rides and it's quite obvious after this trip to Six Flags that Ashtyn is following in his daddy's footsteps. I felt really bad for Ash because he wanted to ride all of the rides REALLY BAD but every time he would get on something that spun in circles he would get queezy and nauseous and literally almost throw up. He even cried sometimes and my heart would break as I watched him spinning and spinning sitting completely still with his eyes closed trying his hardest not to get sick just waiting for it to be over. Poor guy. He was a trooper though and tried several different rides, all with the same outcome. He had so much fun though and by the end of the day just stuck to rides he knew he would enjoy.

One of our families favorite rides last time we came to Six Flags, and what turned out being our favorite again this time, was the Runaway Mine Train!! It's a pretty intense roller coaster for kids (and even grown ups at times) but is also easy going by today's crazy standards. There are no flips or loops...just hills and sharp turns. Enough to make your stomach flop and have a good time!! The boys LOVED it and we rode it enough to times to prove it!!

As we passed the little lake in the middle of Six Flags we had to stop and feed the fish and turtles!!

The boys always love driving the old time cars. I don't have any shots of Maddox because he was in the car behind us with Brandon...but as you can see, Ash had a great time!! It was a rocky start but by the end of the track Ash was actually getting the hang of driving!!

Ash tried one more "spinning" ride. It didn't go well. This was the last one he went on...Maddox on the other hand wanted to ride it again!!

At the end of our day at Six Flags, I discovered my new favorite part of the park...A ROOT BEER FLOAT MADE WITH DIP 'N DOTS!!!! No way!!!! I know it's "just" a root beer float but there's something about it being made with dip 'n dots that just makes it more fun and taste even better!! Ha!! It was so delicious!!

Our day at Six Flags was so fun!! We left the park and checked into our hotel and then got ready to go out to dinner. It was a fun first day of a long weekend!!