Wipe Out!

September 4, 2009
Alisa and I finally made it to Hurricane Harbor (HH) today (thanks, Lani, for the tickets!). It was actually a great day to visit the water park because it wasn’t too crowded so the lines weren’t all that bad, and the weather was nice: warm enough to enjoy the cool water rides, but not hot enough to fry our feet while marching from one attraction to the other. We rode several rides. Alisa was much more of a trooper than I thought she’d be. She even tossed out the idea of getting season’s passes next year since we’ve done the Six Flags over Texas passes several times. I guess that just shows how much she’s growing up. *sigh*
For any of you who may not have been to HH in a while, I must warn you to beware of the “Surf’s Up” attraction. Alisa spotted it across the park while we were standing in line for another ride and decided it looked like fun. It looked like hard work and skills to me, but, hey, who am I to deny my daughter who is finally branching out? So, we eventually made our way across the park to the ride. Alisa seemed not to notice the number of people who had lost their modified surf boards before they ever hit the water good. Of course, the long-haired teenage boys who obviously had some experience at this did make it look pretty easy. I wasn’t feeling so confident. Alisa went before me. She kneeled down on her board, tried to paddle to the water and skidded to a halt. Her surfboard was upside down and the slick side that should’ve eased her into the current was directly under her knees. She made some minute maneuver and was separated from her board and swept away. I was next. Okay, the things I knew so far were to place the slick side down and face the square end of the board forward. Otherwise I had no earthly idea what to do. I followed Alisa’s lead and kneeled on the board and headed for the current, which in lay person’s terms seemed like a huge toilet when it is flushed. I thought for just a moment that I had made it onto the “clearing” where I could simply kneel on my board and ride the calm waters in the center of the vortex. Was I ever wrong! That “moment” passed in an instant and the next thing I knew I was inside, outside and upside down. All I remember was tumbling around in a bunch of white water “rapids” and skidding to a halt on my back, feet first, left buttock completely exposed. My first visions were of some kids and younger women standing in line awaiting their turns peering over the rail at me snickering and whispering with their hands over their mouths. I can only imagine what a hot mess I must’ve looked like! I got up with what was left of my dignity and passed my board to the next person in line. Alisa’s comment was, “That was harder than it looks.” No kidding?
Another head’s up: when they say tuck you chin on the new Wedgie ride, they really mean tuck you chin and lean forward a little. This is a two person (figure 8) innertube-type ride that drops you straight down into a curve which propels you up the other side of a large “hairpin” curve. You then rock backward and forward (sometimes spinning this way and that) until you come to a halt in the “u” of the curve and dismount. I thought my chin was tucked until we were headed up the slippery slope and my head snapped back (gives a whole new meaning to “break neck speed”). That was truly uncomfortable. I can tell my neck will be stiff in the morning and maybe even in need of a chiropractic adjustment! The rest of the rides were a lot of fun. I remembered why the Kamikazee and the Black Hole are my two favorites. Alisa enjoyed the kiddie area with the huge bucket of water that dumps from the top of the play equipment at regular intervals. We took some pictures. Well, I took several shots of Alisa. I did ask one lady to snap one of us together. Hopefully, they’ll all turn out okay. We shared a funnel cake-Alisa’s half was sprinkled with powdered sugar and topped with whipped cream. My half had powdered sugar and strawberries. It was the best funnel cake I’ve had-fresh, hot and crispy on the outside but tender on the inside. Mmmmm!
We stopped by the hardware store for D.E. Powder for the pool and lawn & leaf trash bags on the way to PaPa & Tia’s to pick up Aaron. For whatever reason he decided he didn’t want to join us at HH. My nephew, Trey, and his mom and cousin were there visiting. We stayed only a short while. It was already after 8 p.m. and I had tonight’s dinner and Alisa’s hair to consider for church tomorrow.
I made ham and cauliflower soup for dinner served with toasted bagels with melted cheese and mint iced tea. It was after nine o’clock before we finished eating. Alisa washed her hair and blow-dried it as best she could, but I know I’ll have to wake her up super early to tackle it in the morning if we are to make it to 8 o’clock mass.
Luckily, I had washed up a ton of dishes (I even ran my dishwasher) this morning while visiting with Barrett who popped in for a visit since we hadn’t seen or spoken to each other all week. So, my kitchen wasn’t the mess it usually is. I tried to wash up some things as I went along while preparing the soup. The rest will have to wait until tomorrow. Sunday’s agenda: church, dishes, weekly menu, grocery shopping, dinner prep, nap and study, study, study. In actuality, it will probably be church, grocery shopping, nap, dinner prep, finish laundry, help A & A with homework, stu-*yawn*-dy (maybe tomorrow) and to bed. Speaking of bed…Good night. Until next time…