Knott's Berry Farm!

Aaron and I have been helping my dad download books onto his Kindle, which gave Aaron the itch to buy one for himself!  So, I looked on Craigslist last night and made a deal with a kid who had a new one in the box to sell it to us for $60!  SCORE!  What was even cooler was he lived in Buena Park which was where we were headed today! 

Aaron's one request was to either spend a day at Knott's or Disneyland while he was in Cali!  Since we were just at TOKYO Disneyland a couple months ago, we decided on Knott's, and I'm so glad we did!  He hadn't been since he was 5 and I hadn't been since High School!   I noticed on their website that if you brought 2 cans of food, they would take $29 dollars off your ticket price! 

So, guess who came with 4 cans!?  haha

Minutes after we entered the park, a woman on a loud speaker asked that everyone stop and pay tribute to their country by singing the national anthem!  How funny is that?   So, everyone stopped what they were doing and sang it!

I'll be honest, we almost didn't go to Knott's today because I told Aaron I wouldn't ride the rollercoasters with him!  I have terrible anxiety about being strapped in somewhere and not to mention heights - eeek!  I turn into a complete stressball!  Even just looking at a picture like this would send me running in the opposite direction!

In the past, I've stood in line for rollercoasters with friends and then walked across the rollercoast seat and waited for them on the other side while they rode!  Lame, I know! 

But today, I made it my goal to just suck it up and ride them... and I did - ALL OF THEM! 

Don't get me wrong, I was terrified for the 1st one, which was a rollercoaster that spins!  Sounds scary, but it was in the kid area, so I figured I'd be a big wuss if I didn't at least try it! 

...but then after I rode it and laughed the whole time, I realized how fun and exillerating rollercoasters actually are; if you can get past the being strapped in thing!  I was ready to conquer the world of rollercoasters!  My 2nd choice was the Jaguar!  As you can see, Aaron was happy with my new found affinity for rollercoasters!

... and so was I!  I even jumped in the front row!

Sssooooo fun! 

After my 2nd rollercoaster, I was ready for The Excellerator!  Talk about conquering a fear of heights!  It goes 87 mph, up 205 feet in the air, then drops at a 90 degree angle! This ended up being my favorite ride of the whole day!  Go figure, huh?!  I acually rode it twice!

Next was Boomerang, which "puts you head-over-heals six times in less than a minute!  Then just when you think it's safe to breath, it gives it to you all over again... BACKWARDS!"

Then I toned it down a little for some Log Ride action!

... I loved this ride as a kid and still do,

although the drop at the end is not as ginormous as I remember it being!

By this point, we were pretty hungry for lunch!  Lucky for us, they actually had a Johnny Rockets in the park!  I love that place!

I was on a roll with the whole rollercoaster thing, but NO ONE wants to go on one after eating a big lunch... so we let our tummy's chill and rode the train for a bit!

 

Next up was the Pony Express rollercoaster!  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to ride a rollercoaster while saddling up on a fake horse!  It was genius as far as I was concerned!

 

Believe it or not, it was about 80 degrees all day!  There were people walking around in shorts, and I, myself, was wearing a measly tank top and was actually still hot!  Good ole' California sunshine! Lucky for us, Knott's has a ride called Big Foot Rapids, where you're sure to get drenched!  ... and we did! :)

 

I don't know if it was the time of year, or the fact that we went on a weekday (Thursday), but we never had to wait more than 5 or 10 minutes for the rides!  It was GREAT!

 

Next was Ghostrider!  While it doesn't go upside down, it does go118 feet in the air and then drops 108!   Not to mention it's one of the longest and tallest wooden rollercoaster in the world!

 

Last but not least, we headed over to The Silver Bullet... probably the scariest ride in the park!  It goes 146 feet in the air and then drops 109 feet!  It spirals, corkscrews, cobra rolls, and goes upside down 6 times, including a 105 ft tall loop!  Eeekkk!   I took it like a pro though and felt really proud of myself!

 This is my official victory picture!

Aaron was so proud of me and my rollercoaster bravery!   It was a really special day for me in my fight over anxiety!   It got me one step closer to conquering all my fears!

 

It definitely helped having this guy next to me the whole day!  Thanks A!