Young, wild, and free

Today I was blessed with the opportunity to accompany our graduating 5th grade class on their end of the year class trip to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA.  Every year our 5th graders take a class trip to Washington, DC, but after the Boston marathon explosion, we had to make plans for another field trip location.  I wasn't in on the suggestion committee, but it was settled on us going to Busch Gardens! I was super pumped when I got the news and was asked to be a chaperon because I love going to theme parks!

We boarded the buses this morning and pulled out of the school parking lot around 7am.  The kids were wired the whole way down! As soon as we got off on the exit for the park, the kids went wild when they saw the first roller coaster in the distance.  All the kids kept talking about this one roller coaster called the Griffon.  I had never heard of it, but figured it was something great since they carried on and on about it. Soon after we got into the park, my group and I made our way to this highly anticipated thriller!

Sure enough, this coaster gave me heart palpitations!!! Just to give you the 4-1-1 about it (in case you don't know), it has a 205 foot, 90 degree angle drop and it goes about 71 mph!!! The first drop definitely had me thinking each time we went on "what the heck were you thinking getting on this thing!?" Oh yeah, we rode the ride a total of 4 times!! Talk about being thankful for going on a week day where the lines weren't long at all! We were able to ride in the front too!

                                             
The weather man called for rain today and I was praying that the rain would hold off until the trip was over. Sure enough, rain drops didn't start falling until we were preparing to board the buses to ride back to the school (thank you Lord)! The day was absolutely perfect being that it wasn't too hot (lots of cloud coverage).

As my group and I excitedly made our way through the park, navigating to the different attractions, I just took a moment to take it all in. Busch Gardens is hands down a beautiful, scenic, amusement park with tons of character and breathtaking views! It wasn't until I got on the Apollo's Chariot ride (another amazing roller coaster) when I decided I would stop gripping the hand rails and simply lift my hands in the air and feel young, wild, and free like a bird! It's crazy, but it was such an exhilarating moment when I thought to myself "hey, put your hands up and just take in this thrill".  I almost forgot what it was like to ride a roller coaster with my hands up high like the dare devil kid I used to be! I felt like I was flying while on Apollo's Chariot and I just appreciated life and all it's splendor in that very moment! I enjoyed this field trip with my students. No stress and lots of happiness.  It was like I was a kid again! Seeing them smile and enjoy the day having the time of their lives really made my day. I suggest we do this every year!

It's the little things in life that I'm sure no one else would even have thought to stop and think about that made today simply....amazing :)

young....wild...free...