Vacation Days 8, 9, and 10

Day 8 is easy. We just drove from Palmyra, New York to Port Clinton, OH. We stayed in Port Clinton in preparation for our last hurrah, Day 9.

ALL of Day 9 was spent at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Ohio. I do mean all day. We arrived at the park even before it opened and were there until the Park closed at 10 PM. We spent a lot of the day split in two different groups, with the makeup of the groups changing throughout the day. Adam was tall enough to go on all the rides, Lizzy and Anna could go on most of the rides, then Ben could go on a few less, and Jacob even fewer, but Jake was tall enough to go on most anything for little guys.

Both Adam and Lizzy are roller coaster hounds and that is how they wanted to spend all of their time. Adam may have only been on one ride that wasn't a roller coaster and it was a water ride to cool off a little. (It was crazy hot so I totally understand that!) Cedar Point has more roller coasters than any other park in the world. That was a big draw for the kids.

Favorites at Cedar Point:

Anna and Lizzy: The Millenium Force; From the Cedar point website:

It's a coaster so big and tall, we had to coin a new name for this type of steel scream machine - the Giga Coaster.

Millennium Force is the park's star attraction, standing 310 feet above the Earth. It broke 10 world records when it opened in 2000 and continues to deliver ultimate thrills to those who challenge it.

Dive to the ground at an 80-degree angle and reach speeds of 93 mph during your two-minute journey.

If you want to see a video of this ride go here and click on the video tab

http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/rides/coasters/millennium_force/index.cfm

That first hill is so steep and so high you feel like you might fall out!

Adam and Greg: Their favorite was this amazing, like no other, roller coaster called the Top Thrill Dragster. Earlier in the day they waited in line almost 2 hours only to have it break down when they were the next in line to get on. They closed down the ride and devastated Adam. We tried again as it was quickly approaching closing. They got on at 9:57 or something insane like that. Adam said it was totally worth it and it is his favorite of any coasters he has ever been on. Greg loved this one too, but says the superman ride at Six Flags in Chicago where you are like strapped in like you are laying on your belly and "fly" under the track is close with this one for his all time favorite.

The Dragster stands at a whopping 420 feet tall and goes from 0 to 120 MPH in less than 4 seconds. The actual ride only lasts about 17 seconds. It was amazing. You can watch a video here: http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/rides/coasters/top_thrill_dragster/index.cfm

This ride is all about speed. It is just crazy! You should try it some time (even though I didn't :))

Ben: Ben enjoyed going on some of the younger rides. He and Liz are almost exactly the same height but he does not share her thirst for adventure and thrills. He enjoyed the Iron Dragon, a much smaller, more tame roller coaster. His favorite though was the Scrambler. We went on that several times. Since Greg does not tolerate spinning rides well, every time one of the kids went on this ride I went with them. It has several different arms with a car attached at the end of each arm and it spins around and you get squished against the people you are with. Let me rephrase that, I got squished! Jake was tall enough that he could come on it as long as he had an adult with him so the three of us rode this ride several times. The girls also really liked this ride.

Tammy: I loved spending time with all the different kids during the day. Our family is really at this great stage right now. There was something that made everyone really enjoy the day. I didn't see a lot of Greg as we were usually split, but that's OK. If I had to pick a favorite ride it would probably be the Raptor, a roller coaster that rides under the track and your feet hang down. I love those. The Millenium Force was a bit intense for me. I know, I am not the girl I once was.

Jacob: Jake was pretty much happy with any ride, but he loves the Frog Hopper rides that just go up and down. He was delightful to spend time with and the kids rides you didn't even have to wait so he was able to go on ride after ride. He even loved the two kid coasters and would always be the littlest guy on there. He is going to be a thrill seeker like Adam and Lizzy.

Here are some of the very few pics we took at Cedar Point:

One last thing that is cool about Cedar Point is that it is on a peninsula that juts out into Lake Erie. On many of the rides that are high you can see the Lake and the Beaches. The kids and I even saw some people Parasailing when we went on the Ferris Wheel. It really is an awesome place. We totally loved it. The kids are still talking about when we can go back. You should go there too!

Day 10 was the long drive back home. We were all exhausted from the day before so in some ways we were happy to sit in the car and do nothing, but we were all happy when we got home. We hope you had as wonderful a vacation as we did. I can't wait for next summer!

P.S. If you haven't watched the video of Jacob bowling on Day 7 you must go back and watch it. It is so fun.