How very naive I still am in my old age. Not only did I not feel like a kid again, I'm pretty sure I aged 15 years in the span of 10 hours that day.
To begin with, the very first ride we went on made me pee a little. Well, okay, the first "ride" was a stop at the restroom. I could feel my children's dismay as I dragged them past all the fun stuff to the stinky potties. Considering I spent half my childhood in public restrooms since my mom would need to go at least every 15 minutes, it was no difficult chore to interpret that look of disgust on my own offspring's faces. Now it's me traversing to tinkle town every hour. I should warn my girls at this time, shrinking bladder capacity is directly linked to complaining about your mom's frequent pit stops. You will be cursed with this ailment later in life should you moan, groan, roll your eyes, or make negative comment when the old lady has to go again!
After the evacuation was complete, we could hit the rides. First off, Terroride! Although the most benign of all haunted house rides ever, this thing was torture for me as a child. To this day, I have never kept my eyes open all the way through. So you would think I'd be a little more understanding when the Bear was reluctant to enter the line. But, oh no, I fake excitement and try to sell the ride to her. It is after all, a classic. All the way through, she clung to me for dear life. To distract myself from the terrifying terror of said Terroride, I tried to snap self pictures of the two of us. You see, a true scrapbooker will risk life, limb, and death by haunted house rides to capture those most special of memories on camera.
Next up, another good old classic, the Roller Coaster. Constructed in about 1797, it's surprising to me that you don't have to sign a release every time you ride it....."I agree to not sue the living snot out of Lagoon when this rickety wooden roller coaster crashes to pieces beneath me. I also agree that I will not raise my hands above my head." Something like that. It's at this point my age begins to show. As we watched the ride attendants run along the side of the cars to ensure safety restraints are securely in place, I leaned over to Aunt Dawn and made the comment that it must hurt the back after a day of running along and leaning over like that. Really? That was my only thought at this juncture? Once we disembarked the old creaky coaster a bit of dizziness set in. I walked gingerly down the ramp wondering what this strange sensation was. It has been confirmed through extensive research that I am getting old and cannot endure thrill rides like I once did.
Well if anything could bring back that feeling of being a kid again, it would be a spin on the Wild Mouse. Remember this thing? It's like a giant sized Mouse Trap game, but you're the ball rolling through the course. The cars and rails are designed so you think you're going to be flung right off the track with each turn. Yes, a glimpse of the good 'ole days began to creep in at this point. But once again, upon exiting the dang thing, a wave of woozy took over. Seriously? This is how it's gonna be?
On to Music Express. Aunt Dawn remembered this as the ride you go on with a boy and you act like you aren't going to fall into him when the ride goes full speed, but you actually are going on the ride for the very purpose of having an excuse to cuddle up to him. I was perplexed. I only remembered the ride as "I'm not kidding Jen (my sister), get off me!" It's quite possible that I never interacted with boys until I was 18. As if to further illustrate our elderly status, we complained no less than 6 times about the lame "music." Where was INXS with "Need You Tonight", or Kenny Loggins belting out "Highway to the Danger Zone"?
If we're done with Music Express, you know what's next, right? Yessirree, none other than the Fire Dragon himself, Colossus. It was earth shaking, history making news when this monster went in at the Lagoon! Seems like just last year it was the new attraction, but apparently it was, well, let's just say it was a while ago; I'm not at all interested in divulging the actual number of years. Now, you just walk right on, no lines, no waiting. Poor thing has almost been forgotten with all the new fangdangled super-thrill adventures that have been added in recent years. Or maybe people are turned off by the new smaller seats in the cars. I don't know when they changed them, but now my hips have to squeeze into the seats and quite frankly, it's not very comfortable. There must have been some cost cutting measures requiring smaller cars or something. Regardless, my kids loved this ride, which has the acclaimed stardom of being the first "go upside down" ride in the park. And it goes upside down twice! You just wouldn't believe it!At one point, our foursome was split up in line for the Paratrooper. I suggested that while Squid and I took our turn, instead of waiting for us, Dawn and the Bear could go do an enclosed waterslide tube ride. Squid and I share a great fondness for NOT small enclosed spaces. Unfortunately for them, the raft they were given was completely deflated so they got drenched! Gee, there's nothing better than soaking wet denim jeans for a day. 
Bear and Dawn before the wetness, enjoying the Paratrooper.
Squid and my feet happily dangling in air while the rest of our party foolishly went and got themselves soaked!
With this debacle afoot, it was decided we would travel home for lunch and a fresh change of clothes. As a child, leaving Lagoon before it closed was unheard of. Going home for lunch? How lame is that?Upon our return, we continued to tear it up on as many rides as we could. All the while, I continued to age right before my very eyes. Every tween and teeny-bopper we passed was dressed in clothes that could have been worn by myself back in 1984. How did paint splattered jackets, jelly bracelets, Nike high-tops, and bright colors that don't match come back in style? I thought we had safely tucked those embarassing styles away in a locked box at the back of the storeroom and lost the key. Seeing all those clothes transported me back in time making me realize how very very long ago it was when I was once a tweeny. I'm talking ages and ages ago.
So in an effort to feel young again, and fit in with all the cool kids, Squid, Bear and I all got tattoos. Yup, real-live, full color, completely permanent (for 5 days), airbrush tattoos! Don't we look tough!
As if the clothes didn't create a big enough generation gap, the chasm deepened when I noticed that I was having more fun watching the 2 year olds in the kiddie boats go round and round than I was on rides. Additionally, I couldn't wait to spend some time in Pioneer Village where we could sit and eat a real dinner and leisurely stroll the boardwalks. I recall absolutely hating my parents for making us spend what seemed like 16 hours at dumb Pioneer Village. And now, here I was doing the same darn thing.
Mmmmmmm BBQ! Plus, a line of silly girls trying to find some way to have fun at Pioneer Village. 
Actually, truth be told, an outrageously good time was had in the Pioneer Village, but photos of the evidence are forthcoming. They are just far too spectacular to mingle them among these simpleton Lagoon shots. Stay tuned for a post called Show Girls and Judging Judys.
The day became even more pathetic when us old folks declined a second trip on the roller coaster. We told the kids to take off and have fun and we'd be waiting for them at the exit of the ride. I do believe my butt sat firmly in the exact same spot on the concrete wall around the tree where my own parents' butts sat a generation ago. To further exagerate this scene, I yawned and yawned while we waited and kept looking at the time. Surely it had to have been about midnight. Sadly, no, it was only 8:30.
Sitting out the roller coaster set the stage for the rest of the evening. Aunt Dawn and I decided that was the way to go for the remainder of the rides. We would sit and watch the young 'uns while they waited in line and rode some rides. I think that was the longest I've been able to sit and just relax in about 2 months. It was surprisingly therapeutic, despite the fact that I had concrete butt (you know the sensation when your hiney goes to sleep and gets all cold from sitting on the sidewalk).
It was also a great opportunity for my favorite passtime: people watching. Though times change, there are some things that will transcend all time, ie: teen girls chasing teen boys around the park all day. It was so very obvious what each girl going by was thinking as she executed her carefully planned chase. I remember. I was that girl once; the girl with her friend that jumped on the lift ride that goes across the whole park in hopes of running into those hot guys from the last ride again. It was a great plan in theory, but in practice, there was never any resolution if you finally actually did run into those guys. What exactly was supposed to happen? Well, the girls of today aren't any different. I saw many a scene where they did catch up to the guys and the girls just looked at eachother, dumbstruck, and giggled. Maybe one even got up the nerve to accidentally wave at the boys. Then some squeals as the girls run the other direction. Ya, excellent plan, very well done!
By the end of the night, I think an important reality finally hit me and sunk in: I'm the grown-up now. This whole year, there have been signs at every turn hinting that I am not young and hip anymore. I have a daughter in Jr. High, I'm sore for days after I work out, I say things like "young and hip", I can shop for bras without being embarassed, I can talk about shopping for bras without being embarassed, I am okay wearing frumpy shoes because they are comfortable, and I no longer relate with most of the people I work with, considering most of them are between 18 and 23. And this trip to Lagoon sealed the deal when I just accepted the fact that I did enjoy simply sitting and watching the kids at the park rather than cramming in as many rides as I could before the park closed.
It is official, I'm not a youth any longer. Surely, everyone reading this is laughing hysterically shouting to their computer screen "Hey stupid, you haven't been a youth for 15-some-0dd years!" But this day put the truth of the matter into bright perspective, as much as I didn't want it to.
What you're seeing here is a 4x4 area of my garage ceiling that came crashing down at 5:00am yesterday. You may notice the water marks. Seems a fiesty sprinkler lost its head on the outside of the garage. It shot water straight up through the eave of the house and filled the attic over the garage with water. Drywall is called drywall for a reason. It is meant to stay DRY!!! Luckily the falling debris missed my car by inches.
About 2 12x12 sections of ceiling are now on the garage floor. Well, not now now. Now, they are in the back of the truck waiting to be taken to the dump. This was certainly not an enjoyable task, but a surprisingly quick clean-up. Snow shovels are quite handy, even in the summer!
Yes, that will do quite nicely.
Oh Squidles, someday, you'll have horsies of your own. Refer back to that Montana thought!
A gorgeous, red tulip! And the smile gets bigger when I brag that, not only did I take this photo, I did the Photoshop editing too.