A Weekend With Alex, Part 1

This past weekend, I had another wonderful opportunity to spend lots of one-on-one time with grandson, Alex. His parents were taking him to 6 Flags in Maryland on Saturday and then to Baltimore to see Thomas the Tank Engine at the railroad museum.

Saturday was warm and balmy and we arrived at 6 Flags just before it opened. The first place we hit was, of course, the little kids' area. There was a carousel, a car track, a little roller coaster, some other "little" rides and (for want of a better word) a ball house. He wasn't all that enthused with the carousel. I think the reason was that his horse didn't go up and down. It just sat there and went around and around. Ho hum! The little roller coaster scared him to death and he said he never wanted to do that again! Oops.

The next ride on our list was the car track. Justin and Alex sat in front and Justin drove (little legs don't quite reach the "gas" pedal). He enjoyed it very much but really, really, really wanted to drive. Over across the way, there were several "little" rides. I say that because when Justin tried to get on the ride with Alex, the operator wouldn't let him. In broken English, she managed to tell him that he, Justin, was too tall. What? She pointed out the signs. We walked over to look, and sure enough Justin was too tall. The sign said that the ride was for little kids and adults who were under 54" tall. By my recollections, 54" is 4 feet, 6 inches. Hmmmm...I don't know any adults who are that short! I'm short, but I'm a foot taller! Blah!

The ball house was just that. A building with thousands and thousands of spongy balls inside. The kids can throw them, step on them, stuff them into big cannons and shoot them out at other kids (and adults). Pressure builds up in the cannons and other devises and when you push a button they all come out at warp speed. The noise level is way up there and so is the humidity and heat. I was glad to get out. Alex, tho, was so happy!

Soon, Brian and Deb met up with us and we were off to the adult sections of the park.  Alex wasn't so happy with that, but what's a kid to do? Our first ride was the "train" that took people around the outside edges of the park. That seemed to be a good idea.....until we reached the back side of the park and the train died. We had to get out and walk back to the park. Not fun.

After that, we found ourselves at a water ride where six or so of your best buds sit in a circular blow-up tube and are pulled up extremely high and then let loose to go twirling back down in rapid gushes of water. In our case, we went twirling back down with a screaming, crying toddler. I felt so sorry for him, but we had to stick it out until we reached the bottom. He didn't want to do that again, either.

After lunch, the other four adults wanted to ride some roller coasters. I, on the other hand, (wanting to live a little longer) decided I'd stay with Alex in the old Thomas the Tank Engine area. It's not Thomas anymore, but it's still train themed. I think that was the best part of 6 Flags for Alex and me. There were several trains to choose from, a helicopter ride, a bus ride, a climbing gym with slides and even a "wet" area with spurts of water coming up from little holes in the floor. Most of the children were soaking wet from that. I asked Alex to please not stand over one. He was very cooperative. He did bend over one to see why the water wasn't coming up and...well, he got a face full of water for his efforts.

He and I rode the trains many, many times. After he discovered the helicopters, we rode them many, many times. Deb came back and Alex talked her into being one of his trains and they went chugging around the track that was printed on the play floor. When Justin, Nicole, Brian  returned, we all got to take turns riding in the helicopter. I think Alex could have stayed there forever.

Alex was crushed when he found out that his dad and grandpa were going to get to drive the go-carts in a race! Oh, that child was beside himself with grief that he was too short! I will say, tho, that he gave his all when it came to cheering on his dad to beat his grandpa! "Yea, Daddy. You're going to be the winner. Hey, Pepa! You're going to be the loser!" He was very proud of his dad.