Carowinds

Cailey decided that this year she didn't want to have a birthday party but instead wanted to go to Carowinds with a friend. Even better...Rebecca agreed to go (after being a bit nervous about the rides) so she could bring her BEST friend! Brian and I had a great day with these two and they had a blast! We got a picture of them "in the middle of nowhere" in between North and South Carolina which Rebecca thought was just the strangest thing that we were in South Carolina!


This was their first ride..it went fast and Rebecca wasn't sure about it but decided to go on it again...success! The only ride that all FOUR of us went on (other than the bumper cars) was Goldrush. Cailey took the picture of Brian and I.


NONE of us liked the ride on the left...SUPER jerky and almost made you feel like you were going to fall out. I can do roller coasters. At least not too scary ones...Carowinds has changed a LOT since I spent my summers there with season passes. Back then the scariest rides were Thunder Road, Vortex, Cyclone, and Frenzoid. I'm not a Frenzoid fan but the others were ones I loved. Now they had even BIGGER and SCARIER ones and I'm older...so let's just say I stuck to the ones I used to love. The girls weren't tall enough for the other ones anyway. Cailey set out to ride every roller coaster...until she felt sick on her first one..lol!! She went on Cobra all by herself because Mommy doesn't do backwards, Rebecca wouldn't do upside down, and daddy doesn't do coasters/fast/upside...or any of it. She was SO brave but was DONE when she got off. The girls both loved the super high Wind Seeker ride. I got too dizzy but they rode a couple times by themselves.

After Cailey went on Cobra I somehow talked her into Cyclone but after her first experience she decided that maybe the upside down rides weren't for her. I think she may like them someday but still wasn't feeling 100 percent after her surgery...and hadn't eaten much either. That paired with walking around all day and it being hot wasn't a great combination. The day we went was PERFECT because it was only in the 80's and there were NO lines!! One time the girls had to wait 5 minutes and started complaining. I looked at them and let them know that usually they'd have to wait MUCH MUCH longer for all the rides!


Wind Seeker was their favorite ride until they rode White Water Falls. Brian and I didn't want to get wet but they went on over and over again...and LOVED it!! Next up we all went on the bumper cars together then the girls did the swings.

We tried to go on Thunder Road a few times during the day but it was always broken down until finally in the late afternoon it opened back up. Rebecca LOVED Scooby Doo (Not sure of the new name...something about Woodstock?) and went on 7 times in a row. There was NO one waiting so we were able to just go over and over again without getting off a few times:)! I told her that Thunder Road was similar with just bigger hills so she was excited.

Let's just say that she about died after going on it. Yup. The hills were bigger than I remembered! lol! I thought my brain was going to come out of my ears from all the banging it was doing! Cailey didn't love it either (though I don't think it's as bad as Space Mountain so I'm still convinced her tummy was upset from recovering). SOMEHOW I convinced them to both try it again and they agreed. They were definitely done after the second time.

At the beginning of the day they had NO desire to go to kiddie land but after a few crazy rides they were begging too:) LOVE it! They picked out giant candy necklaces and we went on some more rides together.

Having 'flash forward' moments seeing them both driving the cars! They went on these twice so they could each have a turn driving. Sigh. I know it will be here before I blink:(.

After riding on Rip Roaring Rapids with Brian (and getting soaked) we finished up on the Kaleidoscope. I'm using all the old names for the rides because that's all I know. We were there from 10-6:30 and got to ride every ride we wanted to....many more than once! I'm SO thankful it was not a busy day! Then we went to leave and revealed the first surprise of the week...that Cailey was going to spend the night with Rebecca!! (Cailey knew...Rebecca did not). She was SO excited!!

The next morning they were surprised again to find out that Cailey was actually staying until Saturday so I could plan and prep her surprise party:)!! SO thankful that Laura watched the other kids all day and kept Cailey for the second time this summer.