America's Roller Coast ~ Cedar Point!

On July 22nd, we left for a family trip to Cedar Point. There were 15 of us that ended up going - Great Poppy, Aunt Sharon, Uncle Reno, Becky, Charlie, Charity, Nana, Papa, Aunt Lindsay, Aunt Jeri, Uncle Mike, Kyle, and the three of us. We all met up for breakfast at Big Boy in Ann Arbor on Thursday morning and then took off for Cedar Point. We all stayed at the Hotel Breakers, which is so convenient and extra nice with a toddler in tow. It was so nice to be able to walk back to the hotel when we wanted to or needed to change into or out of our swimsuits. And the walk was so much closer than the Sandcastle, which is where we've always stayed in the past.

We had been prepping Carson for weeks in advance. Talking to him about Cedar Point, roller coasters, rides, water slides, etc. He was so looking forward to seeing where Charlie Brown and Snoopy live, but he had absolutely no idea what to expect when it comes to the roller coasters. When he first saw the coasters, as we were driving around the park to the Hotel Breakers, he was just in awe. He first saw the Blue Streak and just exclaimed with so much enthusiasm, "WOW, a rainbow!" It was so cute. He then figured out what a roller coaster looked like.

After we checked in at the Breakers, we headed into the park. Carson was JUST tall enough to get a wristband so he could ride the majority of the kiddie rides. We first made a stop at the Magnum (there was no line!) so that most of us could get our first coaster in. Carson enjoyed watching us all go by above him and Nana. :)

We all had a great time! We'd all start off in Cedar Point in the mornings, but with a heat index of 104 degrees, most of us were ready for Soak City by about 11am. So we'd spend all afternoon over there. Then we'd all meet up for dinner and had hopes of returning to the park afterwards. Unfortunately, storms rolled through both nights. They did re-open the rides on Thursday night, but we had all decided to just go to bed since we didn't think they'd be running with all the tornado warnings. So we were bummed when we found out they had re-opened. Oh well, we had already had a pretty full day, so it was ok.

We'd split up into different groups at different points in the day, for those that wanted to go ride all the roller coasters, those that went to Camp Snoopy or Planet Snoopy, and those that went between the two. Carson absolutely loved all of the rides! He had so much fun on the kiddie roller coasters - the Jr. Gemini and the Woodstock Express. He even put his arms up on the Jr. Gemini (but of course I missed that picture moment)! He rode quite a few rides. According to him, his favorite was driving the monster trucks, with the roller coasters a very close second. :) He really loved the swings, too. He didn't really ride anything he didn't like, though.












Kevin went off to ride a bunch of coasters with some of the cousins for a while. He finally got to ride Top Thrill Dragster! I think that was a highlight of his trip. Kevin and I rode the Maverick together while Carson went to drive the old-fashioned cars with Nana. I also rode the Magnum with Kevin, my Aunt Sharon, Reno, dad, and Lindsay. But I was playing it safe with the coasters this trip, with my gallstone issues and some precautions from my surgeon. So I wasn't really interested in riding too much. I was there for Carson - to see him smiling and loving it, having so much fun! :)

We spent most of our time at Soak City. They have some really nice kiddie areas. We spent most of our time at the two huge kiddie pools with lots of play stuff and water slides in them. But we also had fun over at the deeper kiddie pool just swimming and over at the giant splash pad type thing that has lots of slides. We also spent a lot of time in the Lazy River and at the Wave Pool. Kevin went down most of the water slides and I did a couple of them, too. I'd rather relax at the pool, though. :) Carson took his naps on the lounge chairs in the shade on both days we were there.







It was a great trip, but it was good to get home, too. We were all exhausted by the end, especially with the heat. We look forward to another extended family trip next year... at this point, it looks like we'll be going up near Green Bay, Wisconsin in June. But for now, Kevin, Carson, and I get to look forward to our next vacation to Colorado! We leave in a week and a half!! We can't wait!

Be sure to check out all of our pictures! They will be up in the albums soon! We didn't get pictures of nearly every ride that we went on, but we definitely took plenty! :)