Grad Night...just for Danny!

Danny is in 8th grade and graduating from middle school in less than 3 weeks, so one of the privileges that 8th graders get to go to is the middle school version of Grad Night which is going to Magic Mountain on May 16th. However, to make it an incentive the students are only eligible to go if they have good grades and no disciplinary issues or 'U's on their report card. Ok fair enough, Danny has been working really hard all year and has had amazing success so he well deserved to go to this event.

So we had been planning on letting Danny go on his own (parents were not allowed to go) even though it would have been the first time he'd ever attend a field trip like this and to an amusement park he's never been to boot. A little lot scary for us as his parents not knowing exactly how he would handle a park like that on his own, but we figured if he went with the few friends he's developed this year, he would be ok. However, the 3 friends he was planning on going with were either not going or not eligible to go. So For many reasons we just felt it wasn't safe to do by himself, and he just wasn't going to get to go to Grad Night with his school.


But as luck would have it, we were fortunate enough to find an alternative that worked out better than we could ever have hoped for.

By the grace of God, I happened to find out that AAA was having a 'Members Only Night' on May 9th from 6pm- 12 am and this tickets were incredibly discounted. OMG!! I couldn't believe it!
This was it- a week before his actual Grad Night- it was perfect! So we made plans to take Danny to Magic Mountain as a family (Jerry unfortunately had to work) along with a couple of friends for him to go with and we gave him our own version of Grad Night!!

 

 He was soo excited to be able to go and his friend Andrew was so grateful that we

 were taking him with us. They were ready for a great night.

 We stopped off at In-N-Out to eat a full meal (for a decent price!) before we got to the park.

This place always hits the spot!

 Almost there...

 Andrew couldn't wait to get inside since he knows the park backwards and forwards. 

He was a great tour guide.

We were going to start off slow, with some easy rides first just to see how Danny, Mikey and Zack would do since they've never been on these rides. And honestly I think the last time I had been to Magic Mountain was before Chris was born...oh gosh, a really long time ago!
So I wasn't sure how my stomach was going to handle it either.

Ninja was the first ride we went on and it was soo much fun. It definitely got us ready for the next ones, and Christian mentioned how he never knew just how much I could scream.

LOL!

 Danny was even more excited when he realized that they had a a DC Nation section of the park. 

He loves DC Comics and this section had all of his favorite characters.

 Danny shocked me completely. The kid was taking Andrew's lead and was proving to have
 nerves of steel (no pun intended, hehe). He got on the loop rides, standing/going backward rides, 

even this 'going-in-circles-to-make-you-sick' ride without a hitch. I was so proud of him
and happy that he was fully taking advantage of this night and hoping that it would live up to the 

grad night he was technically missing out on.

 So Mikey and Zach, being a lot younger, were not quite ready to hit the big thrill seeking rides, 

so I would wait with them outside while Chris would go with Danny and Andrew on these rides.

To be honest, I was happy to have these few breaks in between because

my stomach was not sure what it was feeling or what it wanted to do after the first few rides
(I told you), so I wasn't going to push it...so we took selfies instead. ;)

 

One of the most wonderful things about this AAA Members Only Night,
and that really made it worth it (for me) was the fact that the lines for the rides were
 basically non-existent! On some rides we would walk right up and I think the
 longest we waited fort the boys was about 30 minutes outside of Goliath. 

Short lines are the best way to get through a theme park!

 These two were having soo much fun. They're friendship is relatively new but
they were totally bonding that day on a new level and were excited to share this experience together.
Andrew is very much the extrovert, which Danny is not so I appreciate Andrew for helping
Danny come out of his shell a little bit to have this much fun. 

So one of the rides I was looking forward to riding was Lex Luthor's Drop of Doom. For all of you 80's kids like me, we used to know it as Free Fall. It is a 40 story high, 400 ft drop of hell. 

So the picture to the left is a google pic, but I wanted to give you perspective of what the ride looks like. Why I wanted to do this to myself at the moment? I'm not sure anymore.

It was evening time already, and Danny and Andrew above were totally pysched and went on this with me. However, as soon as we got hitched into our seats, I realized that for the first time Danny had gotten second thoughts, and out of his own volition he felt it necessary to do the sign of the cross over himself and had me do it too. LOL! I think the reality of what a possible mishap on this ride could mean for all of us had hit him, and he felt the need to get himself some holy insurance from above that we'd be ok. Gosh I  love this kid, he was too cute!

Anyway, we got to the top (beautiful view btw), but it was just way to high and the cart starts swaying before the drop!! Lets just say that there is nothing like that adrenaline rush, and we got down ok, but Danny had decided he was never getting on that again! And that's ok with me!

 

 

  After that we decided to skip of few of the other big rides, as we were getting tired but we 

ended the evening by riding Ninja 3 times in a row while Chris and Andrew got on Full Throttle 

to finish up the night on a high. The kids had all gotten these cool capes and had ice cream

for a nightcap and we said goodbye to Magic Mountain around 11:30pm.

We were all exhausted especially after a full day of school and then a full night of fun, but the kids kept saying what an awesome time they had had. Danny was especially grateful that we had done this for him and that he would never forget Magic Mountain. Aww...that's all we ever wanted for him and so grateful that we found a way to make this happen for Danny. He soo deserved to have a Grad Night just how wanted it and he got just that!

And why not throw in a little plug for AAA! Thank you for all your services and for having a day like this for your members just when we needed one at such a great price!!

I'm sure we'll go back soon knowing that its definitely something he and the boys can handle, 

but the memories I have of Danny enjoying his own grad night are priceless. 

Danny We Love You and are soo happy you had a great time!

From my corner to yours...Thanks for stopping by!

I appreciate...my boys playing catch

I was watching Chris and Danny play catch yesterday after school, and I couldn't help but think about how much I appreciate these moments between my boys. I was going to post something on FB about it when I realized that It meant a lot more to me than what I could concisely declare on one status update, so it became important enough for me to write down and share here on my little corner with all of you.

I appreciate... that Chris misses playing team baseball. Unfortunately, It just didn't end up being his thing in high school, but that doesn't mean he doesn't like playing. If anything, I think Chris appreciates the sport even more now than ever. So this is his way to play and share his continued love for the sport with his brothers.

I appreciate...just how much Chris, on his own volition, take the time to engage Danny in something physical like playing catch instead of like video games. I know that he does it to keep themselves active somehow since they're not playing a sport right now, but I know its also a way for him to bond with Danny on a different level. And Danny, who is not the sports enthusiasts by any means, always accepts his brother's invitation to play catch. He doesn't argue or complain, he just goes. I love that! So to me, its Danny's way of showing just how much he enjoys playing and spending time with his big brother too. (These little things are not lost on me)

I appreciate...the patience Chris has with his brothers.  Chris in general has a very nurturing way about him, but he is soo good with Danny and Mikey. I love Chris's natural ability to teach and tends to get the best out of his brothers in these situations. I could see him being an awesome educator one day.


I appreciate...how something so typical between brothers, actually does so much for Danny.  Chris may not even be aware of this in the moment, but as a mom of a child like Danny, I am always aware of.  Something as simple as playing catch continues to "pull the normal out of Danny" is how I  usually like to put it. 

• Chris is helping Danny continue to hone in on all his motor skills through all the motions and skills needed to play catch. 
• His hand-eye coordination gets worked on by making sure how he catches the ball and in throwing the ball right back into Chris's mit.
• Chris's encouragement and each "Good catch!" visibly builds up Danny's self esteem and confidence. And yet, anytime Chris corrects him or helps him do something better, he's learning how to take a suggestion without getting upset. 
• Ultimately, he's learning to participate in an everyday activity that he might participate in later with his own friends at school/college and can feel comfortable doing so.

• These little things can be priceless for Danny's future of becoming independent and self sufficient. Something we want for all of our kids, right?

I appreciate... seeing Jerry come home from work to see his boys playing a sport he loves so much too. It must make him feel good that his playing catch with them over the years has left an impression on them, and now they're doing it on their own. I know for sure they'll be doing the same with their kids one day.

I appreciate...that as I am writing these thoughts down, they might sound very trivial to someone else. But these are the moments I can't afford to take for granted with Danny or my boys in general. You see, for our family sometimes things can be very different, but these are the moments, that for us, make them very normal! And I appreciate that anytime it happens.

I appreciate...that there are those of you out there that can relate to my feelings, maybe within different situations, but same nonetheless, and that makes it worth sharing.

I hope you all have a wonderful day.

From my corner to yours...I always appreciate you stopping by!!