Amusement

So Saturday we went to Lagoon with Nick and Chelsea. Coming from Ohio, it is hard to go to ANY theme/amusement park and not compare it to Cedar Point. Although Cedar Point is owned by Cedar Fair, the same company that ran Geauga Lake into the ground *insert sad face here*, I am always up for a thrill, especially when it involves rollercoasters, and Cedar Point is the "rollercoaster capital of the world." SO...when it comes to rollercoasters, Cedar Point is still #1 in my book, but alas, I now live thousands of miles away. Lagoon is pretty much the only amusement park in the state and probably most the states bordering Utah. I know there are some great ones in California, so I hear, but that's a bit of a drive. All things considered, we're pretty lucky to live as close as we do to Lagoon (even though we're not as close to my mom's sister, Brenda, and her family). So anyway, I love amusement parks no matter what (even if they are weak compared to CP in terms of a thrill) and Lagoon has a special place in my heart because it is there that I officially lost my fear of rollercoasters, permanently. So anyway, we went on Saturday and because we live so close we decided to spring for season passes (they're called "season passports" here) so that we could come and go as we please and not have to worry about finding a time when we could spend the whole day in order to get our money's worth. Besides, with David's work schedule we'd only be able to go Saturdays and those are the busiest times. This way we can spend evenings or just go for a bit on Saturdays and leave whenever we want and not feel bad about it. Plus, we're more likely to get our money's worth out of the passes than we would out of a few day passes. We also sprung for season parking because that will pay for itself also within a few visits. It was a bit more than we usually spend in a month but now that we can go there whenever we feel it was a good investment.

So anyway, they have this rollercoaster that is the newest in the park, which translates to the most updated and therefore most like other places with lots of "good" coasters. It's called "Wicked." The very beginning is like a small version of Top Thrill Dragster at CP because it goes up and down the hill at 90 degrees. It's pretty cool. Like I said, it's not CP, but for Utah it's really fun and I enjoy it. I figure that this is all I have so I'm going to make the best of it. Probably the most fun ride I went on all day was called Catapult. It cost 20 bucks (actually 30 because I went twice) but it was so awesome. Basically Chelsea and I got strapped into this little ball-like capsule and got flung 250 feet in the air. The boys were kind of chicken (David said there is not way I'd ever get him to go that high suspended only by cables haha) but Nick and Chris got more nerve after Chelsea and I did it and said they would do it later this summer. I hope so, it's a blast. I hope I can do the giant bungee jump/giant swing thing later this summer. that one costs money too but it's only $15.

Sunday David and I had dinner at the Porter's (my mom's sister's family that lives really close to Lagoon). My Aunt Brenda was working so I didn't see her (I haven't seen her in over 9 years) but my Uncle Rick was there, along with all four of his kids. I am the closest to Celeste (the oldest daughter, she is the same age as me) and so I had seen her a few months earlier. I had also seen Angela and her husband Matt because we had them over for dinner after we moved in. I learned she's expecting (she's 20; they've been married 7 months) and I'm happy for her but extremely jealous. I'm glad she didn't talk about it a lot because I think that would have been really hard for me. I just hope she knows how lucky she is to not have any problems with getting pregnant. Cameron (Cam; the youngest; he's 18) was there and I had seen him a year ago when David and I visited but it was nice to see him again. The big surprise of the night was seeing Ben, Celeste's twin brother. I had not seen Ben since I was 14 and came to visit. He joined the Air Force after high school and eloped last December and that was pretty much all I knew about him (that's the only kind of news that would float all the way to Ohio). I guess his wife, Vanessa, is also in the Air Force and was there before we arrived but had left to go back to Boise (where they are currently stationed) because of work. The reason for their visit was a long Memorial Day weekend. Anyway, it was good to see him but so weird because I felt like I should know him but I didn't. Also there was Celeste's new boyfriend, Derek. He was cool but I was a little bummed to find out that I was THE last person to know about him. Apparently the news had gone all the way to Ohio before it reached Clearfield. I guess I always felt I was closer to Celeste than the rest of my immediate family so I felt pretty shysted to be the last one to know. *sigh* Oh well. Dinner was good and we played with the Wii. I found out Ben is headed back to Iraq this summer so keep him in your prayers along with the rest of our service men and women.

Monday we hung out with Ben and Misty and the kids, then went to Lagoon again for a couple hours. They closed at 7 so we headed to the mall. I got a couple books (one was the second in a series that I was reading and the other was on sale) and David got a new bluetooth that he needed for work. He also bought a case for his blackberry because he needed one that clipped on his belt. I also got a bunch of cards because between David's family, mine, and a few friends, we have six birthdays, four anniversaries, and four fathers/grandfathers (Father's Day). Phew. I got most of them but I still have a few left to get. I really have a good idea for an anniversary card I want to make for my grandparents but I might not be able to pull it off. We'll see. I wanted to send gifts for Father's Day since I did for Mother's Day...but I don't know ifwe can afford it anymore since we had to get David's bluetooth and we sprang for the season passes to Lagoon....ay yi yi. Maybe I can make some things to send...maybe I can make a few more of the cards too. June is going to be a crazy month!