The Feet Are Up

Picture 174, 4-25-08, The Feet Are Up
Originally uploaded by NaomiPoet

Daniel had a "physics" field trip to Six Flags amusement part today. Okay, the kids all had physics work to do, figuring out acceleration of roller coasters, and other cool stuff like that. But mostly it was a day of fun. There were thousands of kids from many physics classes across the region.

Today was also the "test" day for Six Flags employees, as their opening day to the public is tomorrow. I hope they get their act together! It's probably the worst theme park that I've ever visited, on many levels.

While Daniel was on the rides, I thought I'd check out the souvenir shops so I could bring something home to my other kids. The employees greeted me when I entered the stores & asked if I needed anything. When I finally decided on a couple of items, I brought them to the counter. The young lady who waited on me was very nice, but this was obviously her first time using a scanning device on a bar code. She just couldn't get the thing to work, but she kept clicking it on and off very fast, instead of holding the beam of red light on the bar code for a couple of seconds.

Click! Hmmm. Click! Hmmm. I waited patiently, although I wanted to walk around and grab it out of her hands. "TRY IT THIS WAY!!!!"

Finally, she called her manager who said, impatiently, "just type in the number!" Which worked. At least *that* worked.

I took out my charge card because I wanted to save my cash for lunch. The charge would not go through. It kept saying "processing" forever, then it wouldn't finalize. Eventually I told them to forget it and I walked away. I found out from others in the park that no one could get charges to go through. I also found out that most of the ATM machines were not working, either! I had given Daniel $20 (mostly for drinks, because I had to bring his lunch) and I had $20. It doesn't get you very far there.

I walked around to the different food courts. Most everything was fried, which upsets my stomach. I finally went to a hot dog stand and asked for a hot dog (I really don't like them but it's better on my system than fried food) but there were no hot dogs. They hadn't arrived yet. What??? I did see a Papa John's pizza place there, but for one slice you had to pay almost $7.00 and I just couldn't get myself to do that! Sbarros sells slices twice as big for half the price in malls around the country!

There was also a Chinese food place in a separate small building, Panda Express. The room was about 85 degrees. I stood in line for 10 minutes, and the line didn't move a bit. I saw one girl eating her food -- chicken, batter fried on fried rice -- and at that point I felt like I was going to PASS OUT if I didn't get some cold water so I walked out.

I ended up getting popcorn and cinnamon almonds for lunch, with a big bottle of water. I think the park keeps their drinking fountains at a very warm temperature so that you buy more cold drinks instead of refilling your bottle.

Daniel paid $8.00 for two sodas. One of the soda machines ate one of his dollars.

Honestly, don't these places make enough money on admission and souvenirs? I think it's outrageous how much they charge for food and drinks. I also think the food choices at our local Six Flags are the worst of any amusement park anywhere!

Then there were the rides, which kept stopping. The Superman ride, the big draw, stuttered its way through the morning, with a 20 to 25 minute wait between each ride because of the constant breakdowns. Same with two of the other roller coasters. Some of the kids were late for lunch check in because they were stuck on a coaster.

No diabetes issues on this trip though, thank goodness! Daniel felt low when he was in line for one of the rides, but he got some sugar. He didn't even test at that point (grrrr!) but when he did test later on, his numbers were fine. It was nice to have an excursion without an emergency! His friends were also great -- holding his kit for him when he went on a ride. Actually, the time he was low, he had given his kit to a friend to hold (because they don't allow loose stuff on the rides). But they all have cell phones and he just called his friend to run the sugar over. No problem. No need for mom to hover.

We're both a little sunburned, with sore tootsies. Daniel had a blast, and finally got to ride the Superman roller coaster, after two separate 1 hour waits.

It was also good practice for the JDRF walk, which is next weekend!

Field Trips

This week Daniel brought home two different permission papers for field trips. One is to the Chesapeake Bay, the other is a physics field trip to Six Flags (yeah, right, just an excuse to ride the roller coasters).

I filled out the forms, an activity that takes longer than it used to last year, because there's lots of medical info to add.

I feel funny about signing off on the trips. I offered (enthusiastically) to chaperon them both because of "Daniel's medical condition." I'm so torn. Part of me wants him to travel the world like Amylia, because diabetes should in no way limit his activities. And part of me wants to reattach the umbilical cord so that he can't stroll more than a certain distance away from me and my desire to manage his disease FOR HIM.

This is what I imagine for the Six Flags trip: I have images in my head of him riding the roller coaster, lifting his hands over his head in glee as he is flung at great speed down an awesome hill. I can see his diabetes kit flying up above his head and, since it was not zipped properly, I see the needles, glucose monitor, insulin pen, and all the other small pieces spraying out in an arc above the park only to rain down somewhere in the toddler section.

I need to chaperon only so I can be the pack horse. Oh, and of course Six Flags says that you are not allowed to bring any food into the park. When I looked online at the food choices available, there was nothing that stood out as celiac safe. I did find a statement where they say you can bring in food if the person can show they have special dietary needs, and you must check your food with Security on the way into the park. Yes officer, this bread is gluten-free.

The Chesapeake Bay trip has no food issues (bring your own), but I have to hope that the bg monitor doesn't end up swimming with the crabs.

Yes, I'm allowing Daniel to go on the trips. I hope I can chaperon at least one of them. Baby steps. These are my baby steps. One day he may go off to college, and I better learn to let him stand on his own two feet by then.