Alex and I are back from a GT trip to Cedar Point. At some point during the school year they did some study using roller coasters as an illustration, so they thought it would be fun to organize a trip to Cedar Point to kind of bring it all home. This was the trip that the Nelson's fundraiser was for. Anyway, they needed chaperones and I volunteered, even though the trip fell over Missy's birthday. We caravaned to Ohio on Sunday, where arrangements had been made for us to spend the night at the KOA near the park. We had several of those mobile-home-slash-cabins, which were serviceable but crowded (not nearly enough beds. Alex and I doubled up), we grilled burgers and hot dogs for dinner, and were ready to hit the park first thing in the morning. We were there when they opened, and although it threatened to rain pretty much all day, it never really did. That was awesome because it kept the crowds way down, enough that I rode Millennium Force twice, and Gatekeeper maybe 8 times altogether. Alex kind of struggled all day though, because he's not a roller coaster rider. We got him to ride Gemini early on, but he didn't like it and wouldn't ride another. I wish we had started with the Iron Dragon, which would have been a much better first ride. Gemini is so clattery. Just about everyone else was riding the coasters so he did a lot of waiting and walking. But things got much better when we got to the water rides, especially the Thunder Canyon, where everyone sits in a round raft and floats down a wild river going under waterfalls and such. That, he loves. We rode it enough times to get soaked to the bone several times over, which came with its own problems because of the subsequent chafing. We played some games and rode some less thrilling rides too, and ended after dark. The next morning we hit the water park, which Alex would have gone to all day both days if he could have. I was one of the few parents that was diligent with  the sunscreen, which was good because unlike the previous day, Soak City day was bright and sunny and hot. Alex kept a t-shirt on and so did I, and we were noticeably not burned to a crisp by 5 o'clock like may others were. Anyway, the park is very nice, with a lot of really cool water rides. And again the park wasn't super crowded so we had no super long lines. We headed for home by about 5 on Tuesday, everyone was pretty tired and quiet on the drive.
As noted, Missy's birthday was while Alex and I were gone. On her birthday, Beth took her and the Purvis' to Black Pine Animal Sanctuary over near Columbia City. Missy LOVED it. She wants to do a birthday party there now instead of a sleepover.