With a crazy summer packed full of volleyball camps, work, a family reunion, travel for work, and a mission trip across the world for AK...Pam decided that the Fambam needed to get together and get out of town for some Desparrois family fun. It may have been the call of carnival food, perhaps it was the lure of going up-and-down on wild rides really fast, or maybe it was the fact Pam and I had not been to Vegas in a really long time. Anyways, she felt the need to gamble and see if we could even get back to Midland with the total lack of gas in Dallas. Either way, after a long exhausting first week of school that found AK starting high school and Little D beginning her final year of elementary, The Desparrois Fambam loaded up the gas guzzling Tahoe and headed out to the Big D to hit Six Flags over Texas!
We made the wise choice to let the girls sleep in for a while before we set out on our drive. They were tired from the start of school and Pam's theory was the longer they slept, the less time we would have to spend in long lines while sweating in the humidity of the North Texas heat. Pam choice proved to be a wise one as the drive was easy going for the first three hours.
Since Little D rarely gets to pick where to eat, we let her have the choice and she didn't disappoint with wanting some Golden Chick. The food was good but the free ice cream made AK and I smile with delight as we cleaned our plates to appease Pam so we could enjoy the cool summer treat.
Full of fried food and carbs we headed out for the final hour of the journey as the girls mapped out their plan of attack on what rides they would hit. Pam and I agree the best thing about the girls getting older is not that they are independent and can care for themselves. it's the simple pleasure knowing they both love all the scary twisty, loopy rides we want nothing to do with. This means we no longer have to go on them and can wait in the shade as we drink ice cold water and enjoy our pre-golden years in peace.
Pulling up to the park the girls were pumped to see the park was relatively empty for a holiday weekend. The quickly decided they would hit the much anticipated Mr. Freeze. The line was short and in no time they were churning their guts with delight. I was pleased to see we were not raising any sissies as they took the last seat on the roller coaster for extra fun!
Since Pam declared herself Supreme Leader of the Fambam because of her smarts and great looks. She determined it would be a good idea to bring a couple of cold water bottles into the park. With the high humidity and the Texas heat beating down on us similar to the beating Rigo has been known to dish out to Jonathan on the poker table, the water did not last long. Pam refused to pay the ridiculous amount of $4.50 for a water bottle. She told the girls to go have fun while we hiked through the parking lot to load up my backpack full of ice-cold waters from the cooler.
We soon came back to find our worst fears coming true. AK looked a little green and declared she must be "outgrowing Six Flags" because she "no longer felt very good" when she went on all the "crazy roller coasters!" Now, normally this would be welcoming news as perhaps we would no longer have to come to said amusement park. Instead, it meant that Pam and I would have to determine who would go on the rest of the rides with Little D. With Pam being Supreme Leader of the Fambam...I knew I was screwed on this deal and would become the new chosen one!
I decided on some diversion tactics as Little D talked about her deepest desire of riding the brand new coveted Joker ride. I lured her away from her thoughts and offered her some food. The girls we happy to eat as it had been a few hours since their last intake of food. In teenage years that is like an eternity. I decided on some carnival nachos and pretzels while the girls discovered a Panda Express in the park.
I was soon disappointed to learn they didn't serve jalapenos on the nachos. Maybe this is a sign of bad things to come as Trump continues to push for his wall to be built. I declined the nachos as eating them without jalapenos would be a vote for the dark side! Pam and I chowed down on our extra large pretzel with salt as the girls devoured their amusement park Chinese food.
During the meal, Little D kept talking about The Joker ride wondering who was going to be the lucky rider to go with her. I still had some more tricks up my sleeve and led the girls to the car ride. I figured if we did enough slow rides the girls would get bored and want to leave.
This soon backfired as it only meant that Little D craved more excitement. My last ditch effort was to take the Fambam on the Texas Giant roller coaster hoping this would tame the beast that is Little D. The Texas Giant is an oldie but a goodie, but most importantly, it doesn't have any loops or spins. I rode with Little D and made sure I screamed like a little girl the entire way to let her know this was as scary as her old man could go in the world of amusement rides. Little D was not willing to budge as she wanted more fun and grabbed my arm and lead me across the park to the much-dreaded Joker ride.
The Joker is a free hanging roller coaster that flips you while moving and has several loops and tilts and spins. It has everything my brain and stomach no longer need or have any desire of doing. We waited in line and Little D could sense that her daddy was not digging the thought of going on the ride. Instead of telling me that we could walk away and do something else, Little D hedged her bet and double down by telling me that she "would go on the ride alone" and that I could "take the walk a shame and go back through the line as everyone stared and laughed at me!" Since Little D laid down the gauntlet, I stepped up to the challenge and buckled myself into the dreaded coaster.
I would like to say I walked off the ride a hero to my daughter. Instead, she told the rest of the Fambam tales of her daddy screaming and begging to get off the entire ride!
It was soon time to hit the road and find some very late dinner. We scoped out an Olive Garden and enjoyed our meal as Little D and I watched Pam and AK have a breadstick eating contest. I won't tell you how many they ate, but I will tell you the manager was happy to see us leave! We checked into the hotel, took some quick showers and were fast asleep dreaming of the sunburns to come as we take on the water park on day 2 of the Fambam exploring the Big D!
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