Camp Diversions: The Amusement Park

While in Northwest Indiana, we hit the road early one day and drove beyond the other side of Chicago to take the children to Six Flags for the day.

They had a blast at their first big amusement park. The state fair rides don't hold a stick in comparison.

Anna was especially brave, refusing nothing. She even rode the new indoor Dark Knight roller coaster. Alexander, on the other hand, barely got beyond the kiddie rides. Whenever he did get on a ride that flew too high or spun or rolled too fast he screamed like crazy and yelled, "Stop! Lady, stop!" (I guess a lady was operating these particular rides.)

We were there the whole day, so the kids were whipped. Anna actually fell asleep twice! Once during a brief sit-down to wait out some rain and another time during a Wiggle's stage show. At least she fell asleep with her sunglasses on so as not to totally offend the performers.

The children got to hug Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Sylvester the Cat, as this parks are themed around the Looney Tunes characters.

We all rode the train around the park, which was a fun way to relax and see everything.

If you're wondering what we did with the pooch, we had researched beforehand and found a doggy day care for Shreve which was only a couple miles from the amusement park. It offered Shreve playtime with other dogs, as well as lunch time and nap time and all that crazy stuff! They even have a little slide for dogs to play on and a kiddie wading pool! This place was literally a day care for dogs. Pet owners drop off their dogs on their way to work and pick them up later in the afternoons. I guess they like to keep them socialized. Dogs are awesome, aren't they? Truth be told, Shreve would never be voted Mr. Congeniality by the other dogs. I've always told him he's a bit snobbish, as he would simply rather be by himself. His preferred contact with other dogs is to act like a tough guy by barking at them from the safey of our front room as they're being walked by their owners.