Our wonder-filled vacation starts next week. We’ll spend time in three different states riding at least 100 roller coasters. We are going to a new park this time – Cedarpoint in Sandusky, Ohio! This is THE roller coaster capital of the world.

We will also head to Six Flags Great America just north of Chicago, spend some time in Chi Town in the art-museum district and take in the various sites we enjoy. We’ll stop by St. Louis to visit Six Flags there, too.

As I look at how tall Chance is growing – he’s 10 and 5 foot 4, and his foot is the size of my size 9 women’s shoe – I realize these days may not last forever. So, I will go and scream as we go up and down the roller coasters and enjoy these days, my boys and life.

I’ve taken some much needed time off after the push to complete my dissertation. I thank all of you for your kind words and notes of encouragement. I’ll be back in September… just in time for back to school.

Big hug… and lots of love.

Tina

Looking for a Dream Life:

• roller coaster
• roller coasters
• seat belt mechanism
• ???????????? ?????
• rollercoasters
• antique christmas tree toppers
• raging bull roller coaster
• christmas roller coaster
• photos of roller coasters
• different types of roller coasters

I’m back, and let me tell you… that was quite the long haul!

We started out from Plano, Texas, went to Little Rock, Arkansas, course corrected through the mountains to go to Branson, Missouri (I’ve been there, but Mark and Chance haven’t), then hightailed it over to St. Louis, Missouri where we went to the Six Flags there.

Wow, what a trip, but the good news is that the kids from St. Louis weren’t out of town yet, so we virtually had the entire park to ourselves!

One of the things I’ve been afraid of is wooden coasters. Some wooden coasters can literally be back-breaking experiences because they are SO bumpy! We went to Six Flags Magic Mountain (near Los Angeles) last August, and I rode the Colossus with Chance literally 10 times – it is the BEST wooden coaster ever. It is smooth as glass and still has the jumpy, bumpy ride of a woody.

This trip, I decided before we left I would face my fears and really go gung-ho big time. In St. Louis, I did this on The Boss, a huge, wooden coaster that literally is so fast, your hair sticks straight out behind you! What a blast. After about a minute and a half of sheer terror and holding on for dear life, I got used to the speed and started to actually enjoy it. LOL

From St. Louis, we headed up to Chicago, Illinois… actually we went to a suburb, Gurnee, to Six Flags Great America. This is, by far, one of my favorite parks. They have a nice mix of big coasters, thrill rides, and amusement park rides.

I put my mind on notice that I would not be checking in until MUCH LATER when I boarded the Superman, Ultimate Flight. This is a coaster where you sit down, and then the chairs recline forward and you are then hanging from the seat facing the ground in “flight” position (like Superman). While I THOUGHT I wouldn’t be thinking…I honestly could NOT stop thinking about the seat mechanism somehow failing while we were shooting through the breeze at 60+ mph. Worse, I had my baby next to me who, of course, was gushing…"Isn’t this great mom? Isn’t this the BEST”? And here I was, “Ugh, yes, great” in between sheer nightmare thoughts of my seat coming undone – or worse, his seat coming undone.

After that white knuckle experience, I had to get right back on – I couldn’t let my fear control me. As luck would have it, we climbed into another seat (the lines were empty), and away we went. The second time out wasn’t as bad, but if I’m being honest, I was still a bit concerned about those clips (no seat belt folks – one mechanism locks!)

We tackled Raging Bull while we were there in Gurnee – a new type of roller coaster that has a 65-degree drop, which, honestly, is the BEST coaster I have EVER ridden! It is by far our favorite of all! We rode it over and over again – what a blast! I was seriously scared at first until … *ka-ching* we effortlessly floated from peak to peak with hardly any jarring movements! Yay!

Fear be gone! Ready to tackle your fears? Join us at www.fearless-manifesting.com!