The Roller Coaster Kid

Ever since watching an episode of Reading Rainbow where Lavar Burton rides the Great American Scream Machine, Eko has been fascinated by roller coasters. For weeks afterward, when he fought against us putting him into the carseat, all we'd have to say is, "but Eko, this is your roller coaster seat," and he'd get into position and reply, "I on a roller coaster. I need seat belt. Eko be safe." So, though the age of two might seem a little early to introduce him to the insanity that is Six Flags, we decided to buy ourselves some season passes for multiple visits this summer.

Right away, we visited Great Adventure in New Jersey with Auntie Maureen and the twins, Nicolas and Gabrial. We especially wanted to take him on the Off-Road Safari, a safari bus ride. Half-way through, we stopped at Camp Aventura, where we watched lion cubs run around and fed a giraffe some ice cream cones. Eko was already so tired, he fell asleep on the ride back and managed to stay asleep through the music blaring from game booths and people screaming as they splashed by us on the Log Flume.

 

At 38 inches tall, Eko was just barely tall enough to go one many of the children's rides without us and it was nice of the twins to keep him company (though, we know they secretly wanted the excuse to act little again. In fact, we couldn't keep them out of Eko's stroller.) Eko was open to every ride. He enjoyed going fast on the Road Runner Railway, spinning on the teacups (much more than his dizzified mommy), and being lifted high into the air on the Big Wheel ferris wheel. He especially enjoyed the airplane rides with levers that control how high or low your plane is flying and didn't want to get off. At one point, he had to return to his plane to retrieve his imaginary toolbox.

Eko had a blast and it was great having auntie and the twins there for his first roller coaster experience.

A few weeks later, Eko told us that he wanted to go back to Six Flags, so we played it up saying, "we can only go if you fall asleep fast and wake up early," and sure enough he did. When he awoke he told mommy that he was ready for his adventure.

At first Eko was a little upset that we weren't visiting the same park, but that changed once we got there. After a failed attempt on the carousel (what's with the horses that don't move?!), he got to ride in some more planes and helicopters. This time around, he was very interested in the costumed Looney Tunes characters, even though he's never seen the cartoons before. He really liked how soft they were.















 

Being July, the water park was now open, so we spent a lot of time on this hot day in the wave pool and kiddie water slides.

During Eko's nap, mommy and daddy got to go on two rides themselves, Bizaro and the Mind Eraser; one would watch Eko while the other zoomed overhear at 77 miles an hour.

We finally found a roller coaster for him after his nap. He loved it so much, he rode it three times and called it "my best," meaning his favorite. Without the twins there to keep him company, Eko got to go on a child-sized version of a free fall ride, the motorized swings, and a fast car ride on a circular track all by himself, which was a little mind-blowing for us parents.
















We ended the day with greasy food and a firework show.

It's so much fun raising a roller coaster kid and we look forward to visiting the parks a few more times before the season is over.  Watch our Eko Coaster video set to Dead or Alive's You Spin Me Round.