Roller Coaster Please?
It is the end of summer and time for some last minute fun before school begins. New York State schools always open a week after Pennsylvania's schools, so it is a family tradition to load up the kids in the car and travel a couple hours south to a great little amusement park in Pennsylvania (Knoebels Park). The park is never busy at the end of summer because the Pennsylvanian kids are already in school. My kids love it. They can ride all day with NO lines. This day was rainy and cool so very few families were at the park. The kids were sometimes the only kids on the ride and could ride the same ride over and over again.
At the entrance of the park is the largest and craziest roller coaster (Impulse) that takes you straight up, then immediately straight down into multiple loops that hang you upside down. Of course, my older children had to ride! I sat with my youngest child and watched terrified as my kids were screaming with delight as the roller coaster moved them in up, down and all around.
The older kids then went off by themselves and rode on adventurous rides - more roller coasters (including a water roller coaster), tilt-a-wheel, twister, wipe-out, StratosFear (drops you from 4 stories up), flying turns, bumper cars, etc. Every couple of hours the big kids would check-in and tell me about all of the fun they were having (including throwing up after the tilt-a-wheel).
My youngest son (10 years old) has multiple disabilities including autism and cognitive deficits. He, I and his grandmother spent most of the day in "kiddie land" riding carousels, jumping in a bounce house, riding on a train, and going around and around on helicopters that went up and down. I think he was having fun. His language skills are extremely limited and he could not tell me how he was feeling or what ride he wanted to go on next. He ran from ride to ride and got on those that were of interest. I followed.
His older brother stopped by half way through the day and took him on a small roller coaster. He must have loved it, because as soon as they got off he went around and got right back on (luckily no lines). Well, for the next few hours, my youngest son returned to that roller coaster multiple times and rode four to five times in a row each time. He would ride, get off, run down the ramp, look at me, point and say "roller coaster?". I would always say "yes!" and up the ramp he went to climb aboard again.
At the every end of the day, it is a family tradition for the kids to ride the Sklooosh - a roller coaster water ride that ends with a "skloosh" where the riders and any people walking nearby get soaking wet. After the ride, the kids dry off, change into dry clothes and get in the car to sleep all the way home. My two oldest decided not to get wet and watched from a distance. My three youngest (including my child with disabilities) went on the ride. After the first splash, my youngest child said "no thank you" and changed into dry clothes. The other two went back to get soaked again. My youngest child who spent most of the day at kiddie land or riding the little kid roller coaster, was getting antsy waiting for his brother and sister to ride Sklooosh one more time. So I asked his oldest sister to quickly take him for one more ride. There were two small rides nearby that I thought he liked. I told my daughter to met us at the locker room where the two wet kids would be changing into dry clothes.
We waited and wondered where my daughter and youngest son had gone. Then we saw them walking out of the sea of picnic tables with a grin on my daughter's face. She said "You won't believe what ride he took me to." I thought oh-no what did she take him on. They rode the Impulse roller coaster! - straight up, straight down, upside down, and around and around. What?! We couldn't believe it. My daughter said that he loved it. He sat strapped into this seat (with a booster seat because he is so tiny) and closed his eyes and laid his head on the lap restraint. I'm sure he knew that I wouldn't let let him ride, but his sister would. Smart!
My youngest son continues to teach me - to expect the unexpected; never put limits on any child, listen to the unspoken, respect that your child knows themselves best, have fun, AND always ride the biggest roller coaster!
