Cedar Point 2014

So Cedar Point happened yesterday. It was the first trip ever for my kids and my first in the last couple years.

Unfortunately the hubs couldn't come with us because he had to work. The original plan was for me to meet up with my one friend and her son, but then she injured her back 2 days before we were supposed to go. I made the decision to still go with my children and Mary's friend. Yup. Me and 3 kids for my kids first trip to Cedar Point! Crazy? Nah! In the end, my friends' husband ended up coming with their son so my son had someone to hang around with. It was such an awesome day!

It actually ended up being the perfect day for Cedar Point. Rain was in the forecast and it misted for a while in the morning. This kept the crowds away, which was awesome. It eventually stopped and it was actually a bit chilly. I think the only reason we made it ALL day was because it was nice and cool and the sun wasn't beating down on us.

But, here are the lessons I learned from Cedar Point 2014

1) You sure do take a lot of steps in a day at Cedar Point!
     According to my Garmin Vivofit, I walked 23,846 steps, which equated to 10.9 miles. That is by far the most I've walked in one day since I put the vivofit on my wrist in March. --side note - that's kind of sad to me since in 2012 I would have hit that at least once a week while training for the marathon. sigh-

2) Cedar Point is one of the few times I am not focused on food! 
     We arrived right after 10 and ended up not stopping to eat lunch until about 2:15! And frankly, I had to make the effort to stop and get us some food or we would have kept going (and would have crashed hard because of it). We never did have dinner. We had snacks later, but never sat down to eat another meal (not that one was needed after that 2:15 lunch!).

3) However, even when not focusing on food, I make crappy choices when I DO eat. 
    We went to Johnny Rockets so we could sit down and rest for a little bit. I could have gotten a salad, but I got a big juicy burger. It actually wasn't even that great and I really wasn't hungry (see #2); so a pretty stupid decision.

4) My anxiety is greatly increased as an adult! 
    This is an interesting thing. I've always been a worry wort - even as a kid. My worrying has of course increased as a parent. What was interesting yesterday was that my weight caused a drastic increase in my anxiety. I was nervous about rides malfunctioning and something happening to my kids (or to me), but that increased exponentially on rides that I barely fit in. Here's what happened: I got on the Raptor (which I love) and found that I could barely get the shoulder harness down enough to secure the seat belt that buckles into it. It locked, but I felt like the only thing that was holding the harness down was the seat belt and it was stretched to the max. The entire ride I was picturing the belt coming undone and the shoulder harness flying off my shoulders. Crazy, I know.....and it made for an even scarier ride. It was too bad because that is one of my favorite rides and I didn't get to enjoy it.

Woo hoo! Robbie was measured at 52"! 

5) I already knew this, but Cedar Point is a lot more fun when you don't have to stress about fitting into rides. 
     So perhaps the real lesson here is, yes, I am that big!

6) It is exhausting to spend 12+ hours at Cedar Point and then have to drive 1.5 hours home! 
      I do not think I've stayed till closing since my parents took me (and therefore drove home). It was exhausting. Usually wouldn't have been a huge issue, but since we had my daughters' friend I had to get up around 7:30 to make sure she got up for her camp today. I have been exhausted today - even after taking a LONG nap!

7) I eat like crap when I'm exhausted. 
    Honestly, today has been worse, eating wise, than yesterday. Tomorrow's a new day and I will get back on track and still be down on Wednesday - I am motivated!

8) For whatever reason I lose my voice pretty easily as an adult!
     Mary screamed way more than I did yesterday yet I have absolutely no voice today and she's fine. I used to scream way more than I did yesterday and be fine the next day. It's weird. We'll see how long it takes for me to get my voice back.

The lessons learned are not meant to be a downer on the day. Even with all those things going on, I had a blast. I was nervous about going with 3 kids by myself, but it was great. The kids were so well behaved and the day went amazingly well. There was no fighting or bickering from anyone (maybe slightly at the very end of a LONG day).

It will be interesting to see a) how much weight I lose between now and next year when we go again (I'm hoping for 50-60 pounds) and b) how much easier I fit into the rides.