Day Six - Abby's Make A Wish Come True

From Brent

1. Day One
2. Day Two
3. Day Three
4. Day Four
5. Day Five
   

Day Six flew by faster than the Incredible Hulk roller coaster. Speaking of which, here’s a story...

We were at Universal Studios for the first half of the day. FUN! We hit six or eight rides and shows. Mid afternoon we decided to hustle over to Islands of Adventure. So I took a load of stuff all the way back out to the parking lot while Maria and the kids walked to the other park. I was supposed to catch up to them.

Out at the car I get a phone call from my wife: “Hurry… we are at Poseidon’s Fury and it’s the last show of the day. You have 10 minutes to get here.” So I start speed walking for a couple of miles all the way across to the far side of the park. A LONG walk. My feet and shins were killing me when I got there. I made it just before they closed the doors.

After that show we had about 40 minutes before the park closed. The kids had been begging me to ride the Incredible Hulk roller coaster. I didn’t do it the day we had come before – NOT BECAUSE I WAS CHICKEN, COMMENTERS – but because I knew Maria would have much more fun and really loved to ride the coasters (that's my story and I'm stickin' to it). This time, she wanted me to ride. She said, “I’ll take the babies to Dr. Suess and you guys go ride the Hulk. I’ll meet you at the gate when the park closes.”

So Sami, Garrett and myself boogied off to the roller coaster. I was admittedly scared the first quarter of the ride, not even opening my eyes. As I slowly pried them loose by sheer force of will, I pretended to love it. Actually it scared the water out of me. However, I’m the type that once I know what’s coming, it doesn’t bother me. “Lets’ go again” I shouted to the surprise of my two turdlings.

We RAN down the exit ramps (three stories high), got back in line, ran back up to loading dock and went for 2nd ride. This time, eyes open, no problems. FUN!!! “Let’s do it again” I hollered much to Garrett and Sami’s delight.

We ended up riding it FOUR times in 20 minutes and just missed a 5th by a minute or so… gate was closed, the Hulk was off the clock for the day.

In summary, I walked a couple miles as fast as possible to the car and even further back to make the Poseidon show. Then scrambled all the way to the opposite side of the park for a quadruple loop of ride/exit/enter up and down three stories to ride on the Hulk coaster.

The moral of the story: I’m an IDIOT. My feet, neck and back are killing me. But it sure was fun.

Day Six Pics


The babies start out the day with a cheerful Mary Poppins.

Still morning time... can you tell by Landis' reaction?


Riggs Family with Mickey...
(Christian was visiting some family in Florida. He came back this evening)


Hey, do I have to put up with HER???

Nascar Abby flashes a winning smile.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 - GuateTot style!

Landis in the stroller buried beneath a giant gorilla, Hulk and puppy.
We walked by a "ring the bell with the sledge hammer" contest, you know,
where you pound the post on the ground with the sledge hammer
and it sends a metal thing up a pole. If you are strong enough, you go
all the way to the top and ring the bell.
Several big muscular guys were giving it a go, and left it well short, whining
the whole time about the contraption being rigged for failure.
Well, 20 years of chopping wood gave me the advantage of
knowing it was all technique, not brawn, even though I'm
not exactly a weakling. I paid for three consecutive
rounds of three swings each and "ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!"
rang the bell nine straight times and got a round of applause
from about 40 people who had gathered around to watch.
Abby, Landis and Sami were so proud. I felt bad (just a little) for a couple of
other Dads whose kids were saying "how come you can't ring it Daddy?"


The mummy dude stalks Spidey and Wish Girl.

Scooby Dooby Doo!!!

The Garrett that stole Christmas.


Notice Landis doing his best Cat in the Hat face?

I had told Abby and Landis "act scared for the picture" because we
had just left the Poseidon's Fury. Landis resumed the look he had
inside the show the whole time, while Abby hasn't really figured out
the whole acting thing quite yet.


Garett holds Poseidon's 70 ft tall Trident.

SpideyLandis kisses the carousel in appreciation for how
much fun he is having. Actually, truth be known, Landis
is a kissing bandit. You just never know. He'll kiss your feet if
you're not paying attention. Kiss you on the behind if that
happens to be the direction he's coming from. Yesterday we
caught him kissing the side view mirror of the car next
to us in the parking lot. No sure what's up with that...


Just wanted to end with a precious picture that says it all...

What's Abby saying with her smile and the twinkle in her eye?
Use the Answer MckLinky below and tell me what you see in her expression...