This year for my birthday I wanted to go to Carowinds. Maybe I wanted to feel like a kid again and maybe I rationalized that my child loves anything that goes fast, but roller coasters seemed perfect for my very adult sounding 35th birthday. Plus, we have lived here for over ten years and had never been to the amusement park that straddles the SC/NC border. And it was awesome!
After I complained excessively about the first super long line, Ryan bought us all fast passes. Unlike Disney World (where life is as close to perfect as it can get and fast passes are free) you have to pay for these fast passes, but it was totally worth it. We were able to skip right to the front of the line and ride with almost no wait. Ryan took Tessa to the kid area and my mom and I took off for the big rides.
While my mom and I were riding crazy high/fast/looping coasters, Tessa was riding solo for the first time. She is not one to leap before she looks, but she's not timid either. So Ryan believed her when she said she wanted to ride alone. This is a speedy little kid ride that she loved, until it came to a jerky loud stop at the end. Then, of course, she had to wait until the ride operator released her seatbelt. Ryan said she was pretty upset, but she got over it. I think that makes this a "before" picture, since she's not crying.
My mom took over Tessa duty and Ryan and I had a turn riding the big roller coasters together. Carowinds features the Peanuts characters. There is a hokey little Peanuts show that performs several times a day. I believe we saw it no less than three times. Tessa also wanted to meet the characters and would scan the park looking for them. My mom and Tessa spotted Woodstock and snapped a few pictures.
Dog lover that she is, Tessa was not going to rest until we found Snoopy. Ryan dutifully asked park attendants when and where Snoopy would be. Lucky for us we found him minutes before he called it a day. Not being a huge Peanuts fan, I had to ask who the guy is with Snoopy. Ryan told me his name is Franklin. Peanuts trivia for the day.
After the mini-coaster drama, I wanted Tessa to ride another roller coaster before she developed a permanent fear of them. So we headed to the other kiddie coaster. Oh, the fit she pitched when we got in line! I know she thought I was torturing her, but it's like riding a horse. When you fall off, you get right back on. There was a super nice mom standing right behind us in line and she was so encouraging. She introduced Tessa to her four year old who was riding. Tessa listened tentatively as the little girl explained that it was a really fun ride. By the time we boarded Tessa wasn't crying anymore. I held her tightly next to me and whooped and hollered and laughed and Tessa realized that she still liked roller coasters. Mission accomplished. A late afternoon thunderstorm ended our Carowinds fun, so we headed over to the Disney store at a nearby mall. That was a fun adventure and Tessa came out with new clothes and -unbeknownst to her- a few Christmas gifts too.
On Saturday, I treated myself to a pedicure while Tessa and Ryan worked hard on my special cupcakes. They were very sweet, stacked little cookies with lots of icing. She was so proud of herself and happily helped me eat them.
My actual birthday was on Sunday so we took my cake over to celebrate with Nanny. Bless her heart, she kept getting confused about when my birthday was and had tried all summer to give me my card.
I loved my 3-5 crown and, when Tessa requested I wear it all day, I was more than happy to comply. Happy birthday to me.
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