Journey to Gurnee: Friday

By great coincidence, my friend/workout partner Dana and her family were in Gurnee at the same time we were.  They have season passes to Six Flags Great America, and the passes came with coupons that allowed them to bring in friends for free.  And we got to be those friends!

It was unseasonably cold with a chance of rain that day, which was mostly a good thing because the weather kept the crowds away.  The one drawback was that there were puddles on the ground from the previous night's rain, and Nathan stepped in one.  Now, you would think that because he was wearing sandals, he would just shake the whole thing off, literally and figuratively.  But that's not how Nathan rolls.  He found the whole "wet foot" thing terribly disturbing.

Early photos of the day reveal his feelings after the whole puddle incident:

Thousands, if not millions, of photos have been taken by eager park-goers in front of this sign throughout the years.  I'm willing to bet that we're the only ones who have a photo of a kid with this expression on his face, though:

"Oh come on, for the LOVE OF GOD, what are you DOING TO ME?!"

As predicted, his mood improved the second he walked in the gate.  See, this is why it's awesome to be four years old: You can make everybody's life miserable with your unpleasant behavior, then suddenly do a complete 180 without so much as an explanation or apology.  There's no, "Gee, guys, I'm really sorry I took my anger about the puddles out on everyone.  I hope I didn't ruin everyone's day at the amusement park.  I'm excited now and I hope we can put that whole puddle thing past us."

So, moods improved, and we rode a few smaller roller coasters, which Nathan loved.  Then we went to one of the kiddie areas, where we rode this airplane ride.  This is me doing my impression of the celebrity moms you see in the People magazine section about stars in everyday life.

Teacups with some random kid who was useful in helping Nathan turn the wheel:

The car ride:

Nathan and Dana's son Oliver on the Sprocket Rocket:

Bill and Nathan on the Scooby-Doo ride:

This next photo was taken right after Bill and Nathan rode the Batman Dark Knight roller coaster, which is where Nathan determined he didn't like roller coasters with "hills."

Family photo by Dana:

Bill and Nathan went on this ropes course thing.  They only got as far as the first staircase, because Nathan was afraid.

I'll tell you something about my family.  My husband is terrified of sunburn.  I also dislike sunburns, but not to the point of paranoia. So I usually take the standard precautions against sunburn, which do not include forcing my son to wear a hat anytime he is outside.  Inevitably we will get to a destination and Bill will question whether I brought a hat for Nathan, and when I say no, we have to make an immediate trip to the nearest gift shop to purchase a hat.  Consequently, Nathan has souvenir hats from several attractions, including those we didn't like and I'd just as soon not be reminded of.  But this Daffy Duck one is adorable:

Here's Nathan doing the little kids' hammer game, where you were guaranteed to win a prize, which means you basically just pay $5 for a prize.  He selected a cape with Bugs Bunny on it.

Speaking of Bugs Bunny:

And here's Nathan with some other Warner Brothers licensed characters:

We left in the early afternoon as the children were starting to show signs of meltdown.  It was a great day.  Thanks to Dana and her family for the free tickets!