Matt's first roller coaster ride

I love roller coasters.  And amusement parks.

For most of the last six years, when we have gone to an amusement park, we've been left to ride the ridiculous kiddie rides that turn in circles and bore me to tears.  But this was the year I expected things to change.  Matt's tall enough to ride at least some of the coasters in any park we've been to.

So, just where was his first roller coaster ride?  Idlewild and Soak Zone.

I practically forced Matt onto Rollo Coaster - a 1938 coaster built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company.  It's not a big coaster at all... the biggest hill is just over 25 feet. But at the time, it was the biggest hill on the biggest coaster Matt had ever been on.  As I suspected, Matt was laughing so hard and smiling so wide by the time we'd made it to the bottom of that first hill, I was sure I had a new-found roller coaster enthusiast.  We rode three more times that day and started a summer of roller coaster adventures: Lakemont Park, Delgrosso's, Knoebels, Hershey Park.  It was so much fun!!!

I remember that I also tried to talk Cathy onto the ride but she just wouldn't do it.  While I trust something like a roller coaster will go well for Matt even if he thinks he doesn't want to do it, when Cathy says "No", she means it. 

It was such great fun to experience Matt's first roller coaster ride with him, to hear him laugh and beg to do it again.  That's a moment I wouldn't trade for anything.