Cedar Point - America's Roller Coast and Matthew's Worst Nightmare

Kasey and I have been together for 8 years now and have never been to an amusement park together. This is mainly due to my "disability" that I was diagnosed with when I puked after riding a very slow moving ride at the St. Joseph festival when I was about six years old. This very serious condition has manifested itself while partaking in such rides as the Viking Fury at Kings Island Kraft Day 1988 and while trying to impress some girls by riding the Vortex in 7th grade. I overcame and learned to live with this condition, but every once in a while when riding in a car with my father-in-law on the back roads of Etown I start to feel the dreaded symptoms returning. Yes, I am referring to motion sickness.

This summer Kasey finally convinced me to take her to Cedar Point, so we took off work on Thursday and joined our friends Nick and Anna for the three-hour drive to Sandusky, OH. It was a perfect day as the light rain in the morning combined with kids being back in school and a Thursday all made for very small crowds and short lines.

Let me be clear that this trip was not my idea. I agreed to go with two ground rules: 1. I would not go on any rides that went upside down or in circles (no looping roller coasters, no swings, not even a carousel) and 2. I reserved the right to refrain from getting on any ride without fear of harassment or retaliation (can you tell I work in Human Resources?). Why then would I go on this trip at all? Because I love my wife. And I wanted to see if there was a chance that maybe I had outgrown this little affliction of mine.

We started off with a nice easy coaster called The Iron Dragon. Everyone enjoyed the warm-up and it got us ready for some of the bigger rides. I haven't been to Kings Island in years, but the roller coasters at Cedar Point blow away Kings Island (of course with the lone exception being The Beast). The place it just nuts. We wasted no time and went right to the biggest one of all - Top Thrill Dragster. This is one you've probably seen on TV. When it was built a few years ago, it was the fastest and tallest coaster in the world. It is now #2 behind a similar ride in New Jersey. I can't even begin to adequately describe what this thing was like. To summarize, you go from 0 to 120 mph in less than four seconds, shoot straight up in the air to 420 ft, and then come straight down on the other side with a corkscrew roll for good measure. Just watch the video:



Feeling pretty brave after tackling that crazy ride, we next went on the Magnum XL-200. When it was built 20 years ago, it was the tallest and fastest in the world. Not anymore, but still a substantial ride. This is the one that knocked me out of commission for the rest of the day. It didn't go upside down, but it was a pretty rough ride. I spent about the next hour or so trying to hold on and recover while everyone else kept riding. It was a little touch and go, but I held on and came through on the other side feeling pretty decent. Faced with a 3 hour car ride back to South Bend, I decided not to push the issue and be faced with a very unpleasant ride home for everyone, if you know what I mean. I also learned that perhaps motion-sickness is actually a contagious condition. Nick had never really been bothered by riding coasters, but after riding Millennium Force he was pale white, walking/wobbling very slowly, and having a hard time holding his head up. He joined me on the sideline and we looked like two little girls as we stood in line with our wives for a couple more rides and then just walked through the seat to the exit line and watched them ride. No shame in that my friend!

For the rest of the day at the park, I watched in amazement and wonder as my wife rode just about every coaster she could. Myla might have my good looks, but I hope she gets her mom's ability to ride roller coasters!

Class Photo

Last Friday Matthew's office had an event at a Silverhawks game. There were a ton of kids there, and they wanted to get a group photo. We weren't at all sure that Myla would be up for it, but she sat there perfectly behaved like the big girl she is! It looks like her first class picture.

The unofficial event photographer caught a ton of great pictures of Myla, so I'll post those in the next few days.

Can't get enough pigtail pictures

Grandma and Grandpa

We finally got some great pictures of Myla with Matthew's parents together. These were worth the wait!

Uncle Andy! (And Jonathan too)

Myla had a great time with her Uncle Andrew when he visited in July!



Of course, Uncle Jonathan is usually tons of fun as well, but he was sidelined for the weekend by what turned out to be a broken toe! Poor Jonathan. Here he is self-medicating.

We have liftoff!

It's official, Myla has taken her first steps! She had done a step-pivot-step-pivot move about a week ago in a parking lot, but on Sunday she took alternating steps several times. It shouldn't surprise anyone that she was best motivated by a Girl Scout Cookie (she is her mother's daughter). Each time, she's more stable than the last, so we expect that she'll be taking off on her own very soon. In the meantime, we're just trying to enjoy those last few days of finger clutching and looks of pride when she does this new thing. It is oh-so-sweet.

Hanging with Grandpa Blaze

Here are a few of pics of Myla with her Baw Baw when Matthew's family came to visit a couple of weeks ago. More pictures of their visit to come! (Click to enlarge)

The Great Communicator

While Myla still hasn't said any words other than Mama and Daddy, she has definitely taken her communication efforts to a whole new level recently. Most notably, it seems like she does a new sign every day. She now knows signs for the following words:

*More *All done *Eat *Change (diaper) *Bath *Bird *Cheese *Book/read *Help *Milk *Please *Thank you *Sleep

That's in addition to the things I would describe as "gestures," like up/down, hi/bye, blowing kisses, pointing, shaking her head "no," etc.

The best thing is seeing her take a sign and use it in a new way, or to see her use two signs together. This morning, she told me that she wanted "more cheese." And when I got her up yesterday, she started by telling me she needed to be changed, then she wanted me to read her a book, and then she wanted to eat--all without me saying those words first.

I'll share one final little anecdote that really gave me an indication that a lot more is going on in her head than I realize. Yesterday M.J. was playing with her toys while I got her dinner ready. When I came in to get her, I realized that her hair barrette was missing. I went ahead and fed her dinner, and when we finished about 30 minutes later, I took her back in the living room and started looking for her barrette. I asked her if she knew where it was--not expecting an answer. But she crawled over to our window seat, lifted up the cushion, and there it was! She had hidden it there before dinner, and found it for me when I asked her. Pretty cute.

Of course all kids do these things, but it's incredibly fun to watch your own child figure things out and start to interact with you like this.

Photography by Nana

Blueberries!

One of the great things about our neck of the woods (that's "Michiana" to you outsiders) is all the great local produce. Myla especially loves the blueberries. And yes, we're eating dinner on the deck--makes cleanup much easier!

. . . and at the Playground with Nana

Myla was so brave going through the tunnel by herself!

Big News for the Fishes . . .

Kelly and David are having a baby! They told us the big news a few weeks ago, and I've had to sit on it, but now the word is out. Little Fish is due in early March, and Kelly is doing great so far. Be sure to check out their announcement over on their blog.

We're all very excited and can't wait to meet Myla's new cousin. Congrats, David and Kelly--you're going to be great parents!

P.S.--The promised follow-up to yesterday's post has been bumped to tomorrow. We're in the middle of an unofficial posting marathon, so keep coming back!

At the Zoo with Pop . . .

Nana and Pop recently visited and we spent a morning at the local zoo. Pop had a great time showing Myla the animals . . . though she wasn't too excited about the petting zoo! She must take after her mother, who also enjoys animals as long as she doesn't have to, you know, touch them.

Check back tomorrow for pics of Myla and Nana at the playground.