Today was an absolutely magical day. It started for me with a bike ride with my friend Daniel Olsen. It was hard enough to keep up with him for South Fork canyon, and I couldn’t believe that after I South Fork (where I split off to go home) he was then riding all of the Alpine Loop and Tibble Fork. He’s so in shape! I loved my ride and weather was perfect. I was wanting a ride, and I was so grateful it worked out.
Then I loaded Lydia, Mary, Ammon and Clarissa in the car to go to Lagoon for Clarissa’s birthday. We announced to Clarissa yesterday that we were going. About this time last year, we decided to go to Lagoon. It was a little after Clarissa’s birthday, and on a whim we decided to continue celebrating her with a family trip to Lagoon. On-line, they said they were open until 9PM, but when we got there last year, we learned they were only open until 7:00. We also learned it was around $95/adult and everyone except Clarissa was somehow tall enough to be an adult! Since we arrived after 3 and would not have much time in the park, we turned around and went home (we went tubing down the Provo river instead). Clarissa was heartbroken last year (it doesn’t help that you have to pass the roller coasters on the way to the ticket booth), and she cried and screamed in the car, “They don’t love us. They don’t love anybody. If they loved people, they wouldn’t charge $500. What, do you have to be rich to go Lagoon?! Do you have to have $500?!” To this day, that is one of my favorite anecdotes about Clarissa. I was so happy when today, on this years’ Lagoon trip, Clarissa said to me (referencing last years catastrophe), “Dad, so the story has a happy ending.” It most certainly did. I’ll also note that I wore the exact same green t-shirt that I wore on a previous lagoon trip.
Today was absolutely magical on all fronts. Lily is not much into theme parks, so she stayed home and did a lot of transformational and beautiful journal writing which she shared with me when I got home.
The rest of us picked up my dad and Suzanne and made it to Lagoon around noon.
We immediately hit some low-key rides like the haunted ride near the entrance of the park, the kiddy lady-bug drop drop ride, the kiddy bat roller coaster and another kiddy ride.
About that time, we all ate lunch (A blend of Subway and burgers). Then the rides started to really pick up.
I have long wanted a buddy for roller coasters. I LOVE roller coasters, and Lily, Lydia and Mary all have some blend of fear and nausea with roller coasters so none of them ever want to ride them. Our last theme park that had adult rides was Orlando’s Universal studios, and I patiently went on all the kids rides, and then did the Hulk ride twice at the end of the day when the lines were gone so I could get my thrills.
Clarissa has been talking a big game lately about how she wants to ride roller coasters, and today was the day to learn if she and Ammon truly were going to be my roller coaster buddies. After lunch (convenient time for big roller coasters), the intensity started to pick up.
We started with Jet Star 2 (which she technically wasn’t tall enough for, but they let her on). I’ve always loved that coaster. Everyone else loved it too.
We then did Rattlesnake rapids, which was a HUGE hit for everyone.
The swing ride is always a blast.
And Lagoon’s hand-carved wooden merry-go round is a true treasure. It is over 100 years old, and the horses are hand-carved by master craftspeople who immigrated from Russia and other countries. It is the only one of its kind in Utah, and there are only around 170 of its kind in the in the world.
Then we started to turn up the heat a little bit. We went on the wooden roller coaster (a true Lagoon classic). Mary (knowing her limits) opted out. The rest of everyone enjoyed it, INCLUDING AMMON AND CLARISSA. It was starting to seem like she and Ammon truly had a stomach for big roller coasters.
But the next test was going to be very big. I told Clarissa about Colossus the Fire Dragon and how it had two loops in it. She had her heart set on it and constantly talked about it (she was constantly talking about the Cannibal ride too until we learned she was too short for it). So, after the wooden roller coaster, my dad (who was shaping up to also be an amazing roller-coaster buddy) and I took Ammon and Clarissa on Colossus. She was barely tall enough to ride. SHE AND AMMON LOVED IT. It was a very intense coaster. It did startle her a little, but overall she loved the thrill. After that, I knew for sure that she and Ammon were thrill ride lovers like me. Before the end of the day, Ammon, Clarissa, my dad and I went on 8 roller coasters. Colossus and Wicked (where you go straight up and straight down) were the two most intense. Here are all the coasters us four did:
- The Bat
- Jet Star 2
- Wooden Roller Coaster
- Colossus: The Fire Dragon
- Wicked
- Spider
- Colossus: The Fire Dragon (Clarissa did while Ammon did Cliffhanger)
- Wild Mouse
Wooden Roller Coaster 
Colossus 
Wicked 
Wild Mouse
And so…….I HAVE THRILL ROLLER COASTER BUDDIES, HOORAY!!! It was so fun going on intense rides with my dad (and seeing his joy too) and Ammon and Clarissa. It was truly a magical day.
We also went on the train ride, per my dad’s suggestion and saw some truly wonderful animals.
At the end of the day, my dad really wanted to go on Cliffhanger and Clarissa was too short, so I took her on Colossus for the second time while Ammon and my dad went on Cliffhanger. One of my favorite parts of the whole day was how my dad gushed about how fun the ride was when it was over, and how he loved hanging upside-down suspended. Both he and Ammon got completely drenched from it.
As we were exiting the park, my dad and I threw baseballs at milk cartons to win Mary a medium-sized pig stuffed animal. We both knocked them all over on our first try (with three balls) and then tried twice to upgrade Mary to the bigger pig, but failed on our second and third attempts. Still, it was so fun to try.
Also, Suzanne was such a delight as always. She is so good with the kids, and palled around with Lydia and Mary whenever the rest of us split off for coasters. She played games with them and went on more low-key rides with them. Also, when it started to rain like crazy at 7:15, I suggested we just call it a day. Suzanne suggested we wait for a bit to see if the rain stopped. The rain did stop and so many people had left the park, that we got a bunch of rides in right at the end, and some of the best highlights of the entire day were in that last hour and a half.
The whole day was magical and happy. I am so grateful for it. The day after, Clarissa asked if we could maybe go to Lagoon every year on her birthday. For me personally, I would love nothing more. I. Was. So. Much. Fun.