I was very happy that we were able to talk Josh out of a birthday party this year and instead into taking a family trip to Carowinds, our local version of Six Flags. After teaching Cub Scouts for the past few weeks, Chris and I weren't sure we could handle an additional outing with 9-year-old boys! My parents came to Charlotte for the weekend, and we spent Sunday afternoon at Carowinds.
The Intimidator is the biggest ride at the park and is aptly named. It's 23 stories high and apparently goes almost 80 mph on the first drop. Josh rode all of the other roller coasters first and then decided he wanted to ride The Intimidator. Chris went with him. When they got off, Chris looked a little green and Josh was thrilled.
Josh wanted to ride it one more time before we left, but no one would go with him! I finally told Chris to walk him up to the ride (there was no line), put him on it and walk back to the exit. My dad and I waited for Chris, but instead we saw him and Josh on the front seat of The Intimidator for round 2. Chris later said he didn't want to look like a chicken putting his 9-year-old on the roller coaster and not riding it himself.
Needless to say, things did not go well for Chris. I'm not sure how well you can tell in this picture, but he looked like he was about to lose it when the roller coaster came around the last turn. We spent about half an hour at the park waiting for Chris' nausea to calm down, and then he spent a few hours in bed after we got home. Josh, however, had a great time.
Molly stuck to the tamer rides, like the Red Barron planes, and talked my mom into buying her several stuffed animals and ice cream.
We celebrated at home later with chocolate cake. Happy 9th birthday, Josh!
