Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Halloween at Lagoon!

So every year my darling sister-in-law invites us to go to Lagoon for Frightmares (they put the whole park in a costume...), and every year I have said no. How sad! Maybe it was the wonderful Indian Summer we have been enjoying this Autumn, but I felt inspired to go. I was pleasantly surprised when Mo said she and Dad wanted to go, too! So we ventured out on a rainy (but weirdly warm) Halloween Night and headed to the park...



Our first ride was your classic "Tunnel of Love" style ride, but scary style. This is Todd in his sock monkey hat "costume". Please take note of the happy look on his face. I may call attention to that later in the post. The only scary thing about the ride was the ride operator who kept appearing on the back of our cart and making me scream. I don't like that.




So here's Mom and Dad coming out of the "Tunnel of Slight Annoyance". Mom's faking the scared face.









Next we rode the good old fashioned wooden roller coaster. I was psyched. I love roller coasters and have not been on one in YEARS! The first photo was in honor on Kacy's awesome roller coaster photo. The other ones are GENUINE photos from on the rails!


































The entire ride, Mom was screaming "GET ME OFF!!!! GET ME OFF!!!" Not joking. Apparently, Mom doesn't like heights AT ALL. I did not know this about the woman who birthed 7 children...

So next we headed for something that did not leave the ground... a carnival classic, but Todd was out. He can't go on anything that goes in a circular motion, or he vomits.




This was a fun ride. Mom and I just tried to relax and enjoy it.





























Mom was at least comforted by the appearance of this sign.



Dad was super brave and came on the Wicked ride with me. No it was a Broadway review with singing witches. It was a crazy ride that used electromagnets to propel the cars. It was crazy!

We were excited to see some other "classic" rides... like the bumper cars!





Notice Dad looking at me. He looked me in the eye and said:

Dad: "Carrie, you are about to see your mother's true nature."
*Pause*
Carrie: "Duly noted..."
Dad: "I'm just warning you..."
*Pause*
Carrie: "OK, Dad... thanks."

Luckily for us, she was stuck in gridlock the whole time.





By the time we got to the beautiful merry-go-round, everyone was feeling a little woozy (except me). It was the Tilt-a-Whirl that put the final nail in the motion sickness coffin.

Mom documented our various "rides", but Todd's is totally note worthy... it was a rainbow dragon shrimp. Lovely, but strange.




Remember Todd's happy face at the beginning? Let's compare and contrast (and keep in mind we're wet and getting cold to boot!)...




So we took a break and took in a show. You gotta love carnival shows. The costumes weren't bad, nor was the singing and dancing, it was just the very existence of the show what was deliciously campy.


All night I thought it was fun to see all the teenagers there, and a surprisingly large amount of parents with their kids (everyone else was trick-or-treating... we had the park to ourselves! No waiting!). I thought, "I'd bring my kids here..." and then I realized, I was here with my parents... I WAS the "kids". At 34, my parents are taking me to Lagoon for Halloween, the only difference between me and the 9 year-olds is that I paid for my own ticket.

And then to reinforce that thought, we went back to Mom and Dad's after and got into our warm PJ's and had hot-chocolate, tea, and popcorn while we watched a movie. I loved it. I love still being their kid. They still make me feel happy and safe.

So the invitation is open to all non-trick-or-treaters next year. We're going to Lagoon... rain or shine!

11 comments:

Carrie Ann said...

This is what you get when you try to watch "Heroes", sew sock bunnies, and blog at the same time... messed up HTML! Sorry folks, I'm too lazy to figure it out. Where's Todd when I need him? Oh, yeah... Baltimore. (Lucky Baltimore...)

Julie said...

Hello Cousin Carrie, its cousin Julie(in law) in St Louis. I had to chuckle at your "where's Todd when I need him?" I ask myself that often when I have a techie question and usually the answer is Chicago. Its like magic when he's home. Things are instantly fixed!

the wrath of khandrea said...

you lost me at "ride". i think that's where my vertigo kicked in.

for some reason, this post cracked me up. i would have loved to have tagged along, just for kicks. but not for rides.
me+rides=pukeypuke

Brittany said...

Carrie... I'm so so jealous! You know how I love the Lagoon. We are there for sure next year. I'm not missing out on that or on the zipper and you better count on being there with me.

Amy Lynn said...

Oh, how delightful. I actually was most jealous at the "hot chocolate, jammies, movie" part. Fun Halloween...but I just went to a carnival here in AF, rode one ride and was so sick for the rest of the time. My poor, achy, motion sick body...ain't what it used to be!

kacy faulconer said...

The Music Express is the best ride at Lagoon. . . and Disneyland!

Suzie Petunia said...

That sounds like the best Halloween ever. I love roller coasters! Which is so funny, because I was terrified of them, and didn't try one until my 20th birthday.

I hope you're too pregnant next year to be allowed on a roller coaster. :) Maybe they'll still let you on the Merry-Go-Round. Maybe.

Emma Jo said...

I want to know who in the world got Mo to go on a roller coaster? She got scared stiff once walking up open stairs to a second floor. It looks like a lot of fun...anytime you get the parents to yourself its a special treat. And any night that ends with warm pj's and popcorn is a weiner.

Mary said...

Halloween looked fun. I did that one year too and was pleasantly surprised. It was great to see everyone when I was in town. It too fast and I had to leave lunch before I wanted and there were so many more questions that I wanted to ask everyone. So I noticed that I am still not one of your "peeps" So I had this issue too with another blog that is private. Basically add me and when it says that it doesn't reconize it add it anyways. It will say blogger sign as my blog name. Rename it and it should show up and direct you to my sign in page when clicked on. Give it a try. I hope it works. Sorry for the novel.

JP said...

I just realized what kinda of hat Todd was wearing...and well? It made me chuckle.

Glad you had a fun day!!

Wendy said...

P.S. You need to teach me how to make those sock bunnies. I love em.

What a fun Halloween - and to go with the padres - even more of a treat. I'd love to go with you next year but I'm afraid I'm stuck going trick-or-treating for the next 6 years.

I have to say the only memory I have of Lagoon is when I was about 19 or 20 and I went with Courtney on the Ferris Wheel. I have never been so scared in my life. You'd think - a Ferris Wheel, not so scary. We were screaming at the guy to let us off everytime we went down we were so scared. Fun times. :)