Oskar and I woke up Saturday with big plans: we were going to Six Flags for a day of roller coasters and a trip down memory lane. But first we needed breakfast. A local Sonoma favorite is Sunflower Cafe so we walked the few blocks to have the true Sonoma experience. But in reality, it was kind of crowded and we weren’t there to check off a touristy box or be seen. This was not what we needed. Instead we headed back to our hotel and hit up the Black Bear Diner across the street. This was definitely more our speed and gave us a chance to just enjoy each other's company. After a massive plate of chocolate chip pancakes and raspberry lemonade (because per Oskar: how will I know if I like it if I don’t try it) we grabbed our car and we’re officially off to ride some roller coasters.
Just a quick background, growing up, Six Flags was called Marine World Africa USA. It had limited roller coasters and much more wildlife. Walking through the gates to the renovated park, while completely different, unlocked a handful of crazy memories I hadn’t thought about in years! At the old park you could ride camels and elephants, you could see snow tigers (and convince your parents to buy the matching stuffed animal), you could see a whale and dolphin show (and even potentially be kissed by an orca, as I had the pleasure of being) and the best part: you could see a water ski show that inspired countless hours of fun and pretend for weeks and months after the visit. Fun fact: my brother, sister and I would put on similar water ski shows ourselves at home either with our cabbage patch kid dolls or ourselves behind the wooden boat parked on the side of our house. It really was a crazy time to be a kid.
Those memories gave me such a wave of nostalgia that I was almost able to tune out the guilt of what we now know to be terrible experiences for the animals we rode, kissed and admired up close and from afar.
Thankfully most of the animals are now gone and Oskar was more focused on riding every roller coaster he was tall enough to ride. And despite my ever growing aversion to anything vertigo inducing, I was able to pull it together for him most of the day. The highlight must have been the White Water Rapids ride which we took with a random family of four. The other mom got soaked under the waterfall and all of us laughed the entire time. Unfortunately it also left Oskar and I with the joy of having wet jeans for the rest of the day.
We played games, rode all of the rides, ate ice cream and nothing of nutritional value, and core memories were made… including one memory I would prefer to forget…Oskar built up the confidence to go on a ride by himself and I let him wait in line alone. It was a short line and short ride and I could keep my eyes on him the entire time. And yet somehow I missed him at the exit after the ride. For no more than five minutes he stood waiting at the exit just out of sight while I scanned to see if he was taking another turn. When I realized the mistake I found him right away, on the verge of tears. It was a devastating moment for us both. But he did exactly what he was supposed to do, stayed put, and we were back to happy after just a few moments to realize he was safe and I would never leave him.
The afternoon rolled around faster than we knew it, with an early start the next day, we packed up and headed back to the hotel for a movie night and pizza in bed. Oskar showed me once again what an amazing guy he is. When the delivery guy showed up with just Oskar’s personal pizza and not my salad, Oskar went out of his way to tell me multiple times that I could share his pizza with him. My heart melted. This memory will stay with me for years and, along with the whole day, was why I wanted this trip to begin with.
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