This is on the way into the park. That coaster in the background is the one Mick and I rode later in the day. The “Hoosier Hurricane”! 
The first requested ride was The Scrambler. The older girls had ridden this the last time we went to Indiana Beach a couple of years ago, but it was Claire’s (and maybe Brooke’s) first time. Suffice it to say, they loved it!
You can’t see Claire’s face in this (right next to Rachel), but trust me – she was smiling!
After that, we went to this little Viking ship, which goes about as high as a good swing. Just enough to give a few stomach butterflies and happy faces. This ride is a hard one to get good pictures of because of the structures and supports that block the ride, so you can just barely see Claire’s expression here – cute!
We spent a lot of time in Kiddie Land, letting Grant ride every car, motorcycle, bus, boat, train, etc. that circled round and round. He was in absolute heaven. It was all so new to him; riding the rides, hearing the big roller coasters directly overhead, the train whistle intermittently, other kids buzzing the little horns on the rides. He was soaking it all in and in most of the pictures, he looks like this:
or this:
or this:
or this:
Seriously! He really did have a great time!
Claire, on the other hand, was quite expressive and rode practically everything: the ferris wheel, Scrambler, even the cable cars!) We’re wondering if she may someday be a daredevil. Here she is riding something a little more tame.
Brooke had fun on this ride:
Then it was on to the swings. I have never even been tempted to ride this one. I can’t believe the girls like it!
Just look at those smiles! <shaking head>
When they got off, I told them Grandma would’ve been under them holding a giant net if she’d have been there. Yes, Claire did ask to ride these and yes, we did say no.
After Mick got no takers on his repeated offer to ride a roller coaster (no Claire, you’re too little), I decided to bite the bullet and ride with him. He chose the Hoosier Hurricane, a great wooden coaster that spans the length of the park. I had a fair amount of nervousness while we were waiting, and briefly considered backing out at the last minute, then the last half minute, then the last second … But I swallowed the lump in my throat and went for it … and it was fun! (after that first big hill). I told Mick it was an appropriate thing to do to celebrate the 25th anniversary of meeting each other.
Sadly there were no pictures taken on this ride. I was actually disappointed the ride didn’t have one of those cameras that takes your picture on the big hill. I probably would’ve bought it for proof! Everyone (but me and Trent) also rode the ferris wheel, but I had left the camera in the after lunch, so no pictures of that. I really didn’t think Grant would like the ferris wheel, but Mick said he did fine. When they were sitting at the very top for several minutes, Grant eventually said “Ok, Daddy, let’s get down.” Brooke needed a little persuading, but Mick didn’t give her too much time to think about it, otherwise, I think she would’ve backed out. I think she has her mother’s nerves. 
The park closed at 6:00, which I was a little disappointed about. I was just imaging some early evening pictures taken with the bright lights of the park, but we were pretty beat by then. On the way home, we stopped at Qdoba’s in West Lafayette and had dinner. Always interesting to take a family of 10 onto a college campus.
From start to finish, it was just a perfect summer day – a fitting way to start the summer.
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