Memory Lane

I moved to Pennsylvania in 1996. I can't recall if I went to Knoebels that summer, but I do recall going there in 1997. Although I enjoyed riding the Phoenix (an awesome wooden roller coaster), my enjoyment at the park rose exponentially when I was able to start taking my children there. I think Nadia might have been there in 2009, but the first visit that stands out to me with her was in 2010. In those early days, we naturally spent our time helping the kids off and on the kiddie rides. Some of their favorites were the Kiddie Whip, ball pit, big slide, and the fire engines. Then as they got older and grew tall enough to ride bigger rides, we were splitting our time between the kiddie rides and the bigger rides, like the Phoenix and the flume. The kiddie rides are now a thing of the past for our family. The favorite rides include the scrambler, flume, Phoenix, Twister (another wooden rollercoaster), Impulse (metal roller coaster that includes loops), bumper cars, downdraft, and the swings.

This past Sunday was WVIA Day at Knoebels, which meant we would receive six free wristbands because of our PBS membership. We usually attend the first worship service together and then attend classes during the second service, but this past Sunday Paul and I attended the first worship service while the kids went to their classes during the first service. After that we left with five children as Xandir and Faith were joining us at Knoebels. We came home to change clothes, get some food to eat for lunch in the van, and get Milo. Their mom and stepdad joined us along with their large dog, Gunner later at the park. Paul and the five kids each received a free wristband. We were at the park for six hours. I didn't get as many pictures as usual because at one point it started to sprinkle so I put the camera back in the van. Thankfully it only sprinkled for a very few minutes. The park was more crowded than it was on WVIA Day last year, but the lines weren't ridiculous. The kids rode quite a few rides in the first hour when the lines were particularly short. Ian rode the Impulse for the first time, and he enjoyed it. He's come a long way! Oliver rode the Phoenix nine times! He also rode the flume quite a few times. Paul rode the Phoenix twice and the bumper cars once. Since his wristband was free it's not like we wasted any money, but I'm thinking next year we'll invite three kids to join us and Paul can use some ride tickets as a kid will get a lot more use out of a wristband than he did. Milo had a great time. Because we had Milo, we opted to get one large pizza in the park. It would be cheaper to get one at a restaurant outside the park, but we needed to eat outdoors since we had Milo with us. We spent a little less than $30 on snacks and dinner, and aside from the gas to get there and back, that was our only cost for the day. When the kids were younger, we used to give our extra handstamps to Paul's mom or dad and/or our nephew, Shawn. The kids like the idea of inviting three friends to join us next year. 

This year we will spend fewer days at amusement parks than we usually do. At the moment our only plans for the year for amusement parks are: one day at Knoebels in May (free passes), one day at Montage Mountain water park in June (free passes), the boys will spend one day at Delgrosso's in July (passes are 50% off), three days at Six Flags Darien Lake during a music festival, and one day at Kennywood in August. The only park that will be a new one for us this year will be Kennywood, if we actually go there in August. Those plans are somewhat up in the air depending on when the Benners travel to Maryland this summer. The kids have been to twenty-six different amusement parks (including outdoor water parks) so far. I'm hoping that list will grow to at least thirty within the next three years. In addition to adding Kennywood to the list this year, we're planning to add Busch Gardens in Williamsburg and King's Dominion to the list next year. 

Today we were part of a group tour of Eckley Miners' Village, which was a coal mining patch town and was the location for the filming of the movie Molly Maguires in 1970. We watched a movie, the kids did a scavenger hunt in the museum, and then we had a guided tour of the village that included entering a couple of the homes and two of the churches (Catholic and Episcopal). I have scheduled two more group field trips over the next month - the Historic Warrior Run Church and Curtin Village (Eagle Ironworks). 

Nadia dissected the frog and took her final exam for Biology. We read about Idi Amin today. Tomorrow we'll read about Fidel Castro, and on Thursday we'll finish up with Hosni Mubarak. Nadia is getting near the end of her 1,500-word report on sharks and her Pilgrim's Progress literature guide. Oliver is chipping away at his missed word spelling list, and the boys are continuing to work towards the completion of their math courses. Ian and Nadia are headed to Indiana for a Bible quizzing competition on Friday.