| Drew's middle school took their annual field trip to Cedar Point 
			on Thursday, June 14th this year. Like we did during the other kids 
			school trips to Cedar Point, we once again decided to take him 
			ourselves. With Tara already working down in Florida, and Sam tied 
			up with exams at school, it was just Drew, Jayden, and I that would 
			be making the 3-hour trek to Sandusky, Ohio. Aside from one restroom 
			break, it was smooth sailing the entire way.
			 We arrived at the park at the same time as the school busses, and 
			we made our way through the turnstiles with several of Drew's 
			classmates. Once inside, Drew connected with his good friend Joe, 
			and off they went. That left Jay and I free to do whatever we wanted 
			for the day. 
			The two of us decided to make the Blue Streak our first ride of 
			the day. Jay really enjoyed it, and was ready to expand her horizons 
			a bit, so we headed off to the midway to decide on ride number two. 
			Jay shot down the Top Thrill Dragster, as she wasn't ready to quite 
			that high yet, and the Cork Screw was closed at the moment, crossing 
			off the ride she wanted to get on next, so we settled on the Magnum 
			XL200. This was the biggest roller coaster that Jay had ever been 
			on, but she truly enjoyed it. 
			By this point we were hungry, so we decided to put our 'All Day 
			Dining' pass to use. Jay and I decided to share a chicken tender 
			meal at Stockade Refreshments. We both decided that we would 
			probably pass on the chicken during our next meal, but we ate what 
			we could before deciding we had enough and were ready to move on. 
			Since we were so close, we decided to take on the Mine Ride next. 
			The wait was virtually nil, and the ride is still enjoyable all 
			these years later, so it was worth hitting up. From there we headed 
			further into Frontiertown to get in a longer line, this one for the 
			Maverick. Jay was pretty nervous about this one, as she had never 
			been on a ride that goes this fast or upside down so many times, but 
			she ended up loving it! In fact, she would later proclaim Maverick 
			to be the favorite coaster that she rode today! While still in 
			Frontiertown we headed over to ride the Wave Swinger. Though 
			intended mainly for younger kids, I decided that I was young enough 
			at heart that I would ride the swings too. Although not as thrilling 
			as Maverick, it was a nice change of pace fun ride. 
			It was at this time that we met back up with Drew in order to get 
			him some food. Since I didn't eat it, I'm drawing a blank on what he 
			ate, but I think that it was a burger. Regardless, while the three 
			of us were together we decided to hit up a couple rides while his 
			friends were in line for another coaster. We headed back to get on 
			the Mine Ride once again, and Drew came off enjoying it as well. He 
			and Jay also decided to get on the Cadillac Cars for a slow-paced 
			spin around the track. I rode with Jay while puttered behind us in 
			his own car. Since we were so close, we decided to check out Skyhawk, 
			a giant arm that swings back and forth (but doesn't quite go all the 
			way over). Drew wasn't interested in this one, so he stayed on the 
			ground while Jay and I rode. This wasn't quite like the roller 
			coasters that we came to ride, but it was a fun ride nonetheless. We 
			headed back to the Mine Ride once again, and the three of us rode it 
			before Drew reconnected with his friends. 
			With Drew off having fun, Jay and I wandered around while looking 
			for our next adventure. We ended up back towards the front of the 
			part, and I was able to convince her to give the Raptor a try. She 
			was pretty nervous about having her feet dangling below her, but she 
			ended up having a blast on this ride. She would later rate this her 
			second favorite ride. While at the front of the park, we went to 
			ride the Gatekeeper, another ride where your feet dangle below you. 
			She ended up enjoying this one quite a bit too, and would place this 
			ride in third on her favorite coaster podium. 
			We began our walk back down the midway once again, and this time 
			the Corkscrew was open. Jay was ready to get on this time, and the 
			line was short, so we were able to get quick access to the front 
			row. Although Jay enjoyed the ride, she didn't like the jerkiness 
			that would cause her head to bounce into the shoulder harness, 
			nearly puncturing her neck with her earrings! 
			Since we were so close, we decided to give the Top Thrill 
			Dragster a try. The line wasn't terrible, but it was long enough 
			that it allowed Jayden plenty of time to build up a serious case of 
			nerves. She stuck it out though, and made it all the way to the end. 
			I'm not sure she would do it again anytime soon, but she can cross 
			this ride off her list! 
			After such a heart stopping ride, we opted for something a little 
			simpler for our next one. We chose the Matterhorn for our 
			post-Dragster ride, and Jay followed that up with a return 
			engagement on the Wave Swinger while I waited in line for a slice of 
			pizza (which, for the record, didn't taste horrible, but is a 
			terrible waste of our meal plan and is way overpriced, even for park 
			food). 
			Around this time Drew's classmates had to start making their way 
			to the bus for their return trip home, so he rejoined us for some 
			extra fun. We were able to convince him to give the Maverick a try, 
			as he isn't much of a coaster fan (though, to be fair, he did ride a 
			couple with his friends today, and even found himself really 
			enjoying the Gatekeeper). He didn't fall in love with this ride like 
			Jay did, but he didn't hate it either. 
			We knew that we too would have to leave soon, so we made our way 
			towards the front of the park. On our way Drew and Jay decided to 
			hit up the Dodgem bumper cars to take out some aggression on each 
			other. The two then climbed about the Troika, a spinning ride that I 
			wasn't feeling excited about after a long day. 
			Next we decided to ride the Gatekeeper once again, with the 
			intention to leave afterwards. Of course Drew and Jay had so much 
			fun (as did I) and the line was so short that we decided to get 
			right back on for round two! They then decided another round of 
			Dodgem was in order, so back we went. Although I think they 
			regretted it during the ride, they even got aboard the Kiddy Kingdom 
			Carousel for a slow circular ride. 
			They opted for one last ride before leaving, finishing up where 
			Jay and I started, taking a spin on the Blue Streak. 
			That was enough for all of us, as we had a long day already in 
			the books. We made one stop on our way home, at McDonalds, then 
			completed the trek home.  
			I think that all of us had a great time today, and would love to 
			do it all over again, though our ove to Florida coming up soon will 
			make this a bit more challenging to achieve. After getting in 
			trouble for taking pictures on a ride a couple years ago, I limited 
			my photography greatly this year. Although there aren't many of the, 
			please enjoy those that I was able to take...  |