Second Kings Island Trip

Saturday, July 31, 2021

   

The hours at Kings Island are still a little short due to staffing issues, so we got to sleep in a bit.  We headed to the park at 10:00am and got early admission.  After we got our FastLane bands, we were off.  Emily, Abby and Molly headed straight for Diamondback - one of Emily's favorites (can you tell?). 

Josie was still a little bit too short, so we headed to Planet Snoopy.  Then we all met up for our next adventures together...including Woodstock Express.

   

   

Our next stop was Mystic Timbers.  It's kind of nice that they still have a few wooden roller coasters.  My job on this round was to hold the bags.  Thanks to FastLane, they actually got to ride a couple of times.

   

   

Then, while we were in the area anyway, the girls wanted to ride White Water Canyon.  Molly and I sat that one out, but we did what any other good moms would do - we bought tokens so we could blast them with water canons when they went by!

   

They were REALLY wet, but they loved it.  Next up was a little bit of lunch and then we were off to Windseeker and the Antique Autos.

   

   

From there, we headed down through Coney Mall and hit up The Racers, Orion (the camera finally worked) and Flight of Fear.

   

Then we just had to make a stop to play some of the old time games in Coney Mall.  I think I had about as much fun playing these games as much as anything we did today.  Not sure why.  They are kind of silly, but they were fun and Emily won a pineapple Squishimal.

   

We also made time for the bumper cars, the stunt coaster and some Dippin' Dots. Yum!

   

   

To round out our day, we headed to Action Zone and got to ride Banshee (a couple of times), Drop Zone, Delirium and Invertigo.  We also made a stop for dinner at the Fest Haus and then more ice cream at Graeter's. 

   

   

I thought was was going to be it for the day, but Emily was able to persuade the group to take one last ride on the carousel before heading home.  What can I say?  I'm a sucker for the little horses that go round and round and up and down.  What a great day we had!!

   

   

Camp Cedar

 Friday, July 30, 2021

Earlier this spring we planned a return trip to Kings Island with Molly, Abby and Josie and to make it extra fun, we booked our accommodations at the brand new Camp Cedar right next door to Kings Island!  We were intrigued by Camp Cedar because it offered basically tiny houses that you could book.  We'd always wanted to try out tiny living so this was a great opportunity.  We were still in Dayton since Miami Skating Camp just ended, so on Friday afternoon we took the short drive down to Mason and checked-in.

   

Camp Cedar just opened a couple of weeks before we arrived so everything was still really new and clean.  The tiny house we rented for the weekend had space to sleep 8 (arguably), a full kitchen and one (ugh) bathroom.  But since we were only there 2 nights, it worked out ok.  Molly and Josie took the loft bedroom area, Abby and Emily took the bunk beds and I got the back bedroom.

   

   

Once we all got settled in a bit, we took a walk around the property to see the pool and the "food truck" alley.  It was kind of cute, but all much smaller than I pictured from the photos.  Still, it was a nice amenity and easily walkable from anywhere on the property.  There was also a nice lodge area with a little shop, bar and restaurant.

   

Pretty soon, it was time for bed so we could get some rest and get ready for a full day at the park!  Armed with our FastLane passes - we were ready!

Miami Summer Skating School

Sunday, July 25, 2021

After having the camp cancelled last year, Emily was extra excited to get to Miami Summer Skating School this year and she was extra excited because one of her skating besties, Elle, was going too and would be her roommate.  In addition, 4 other skaters from our club were also attending.

   

We met everyone at Miami on Sunday morning, got everyone checked in (including proof of vaccination) and then headed to the dorm to move in.  The rooms in the dorm this year seemed very small.  Clearly the girls did not mind a bit.

   

Once move in was complete, we grabbed a quick lunch and then it was time to say goodbye and head home.  We didn't hear too much from Emily throughout this week - only that she was having fun and liked her coaches, but that was enough.  After all, she is 13 now.  Ha!  We did learn that was was working on her double axel and also on getting her leg crossed lower on some of her doubles.  She was also working with her moves coach on senior moves.  We are looking forward to that test this fall, hopefully in Lexington.

At the end of the week, the kids all skated in exhibition.  Everyone skated really well.  Pictured from left to right:  Kinsley Crockett, Emily, Lily, Johie Stover and Sarah Saffer.

We had a few hours to kill between the exhibition and Emily's next USFSA figure skating test so we ate a quick lunch and then got ice cream at Graeter's in downtown Oxford.  By the time we finished, it was testing time!  Emily had to complete her Intermediate Freeskate test so she could go to regionals in October.  She seemed pretty relaxed and ready so we were hopeful.  She skated a beautiful, clean program (only leaving out one jump) and passed with honors!  Next stop - USFSA Championship Series!