ELE - 6yr old Adrenaline Junkie

Sea World has a few roller coasters and a waterpark in addition to all the animal exhibits. We offered the kids a chance to ride the Steel Eel, A basic roller coaster with a pretty good drop on the first hill. Jeff, MH and ELE decided to ride it. I was sure that MH and Jeff would enjoy it, but I was a little apprehensive about ELE. In fact another mom got off the ride just before ELE got on and warned me that ELE might not ever forgive me for talking her into going on the ride. As soon as the ride was over, Ethan and I went around to the ride exit. ELE came off moaning, holding her head and her stomach. I asked her how the ride was and she said “oh, I’m dizzy and my stomach is all wobbly and I want to do it again!” which of course made me laugh because of the drama.

Later we headed to the water park because the kids had never been. We tried out the lazy river, the wave pool and then decided to go on the water slides. It was quite a hike up the stairs. When our turn came, I was going to go first, then the kids and Jeff last. That way I would be there at the end to greet them, and Jeff could keep track of them up top. At the top there were 4 choices. I picked the next open one. ELE decided to go down the same one I chose. So off I went. I didn’t realize that this water slide was a PITCH BLACK VORTEX OF DOOM! Ok maybe it wasn’t that bad, but I found it unnerving to be zipping down a tunnel and not able to see at all where I was going or which way the next turn was. There were a couple of drops where I left the tube. About halfway down, I thought, “Oh no ELE’s not going to like this!” Ele doesn’t like the dark, or being alone, or surprises really. I figured this was a bad combination. At the bottom I got out of the pool and waited for ELE. She was a little longer coming down than I thought. Then finally, here she came, screaming and laughing and begging to do it again. Turns out, the reason that she took so long was that she fell out of the inner tube and had to climb back in. After Jeff, MH and Ethan all made it down to the bottom it was time to go home. Naturally the kids were unhappy about this, but that is all in a day’s fun.

I believe that ELE will have a fabulous time at Disney Land later this year. I hope Uncle Chris can keep up with her.