Bull Riding!!

Well, we went to Six Flags Great America this past Saturday. It didn't look like we were going to get to go when I woke up due to the rain pelting my bedroom window. But after viewing the forecast and dopplar radar in Gurnee (where Six Flags is located - 1.5 hours North), I found out that most of the rain was further South and there was not too much at Six Flags.

So we (Mr. and Mrs. Mulligan, Ryan, Melinda, Brad, Rick, Andrew, Jakob, Liz, Kathleen, Rachel, Elisa, and myself) took off and drove up arriving around 11:00 a.m. And after having to listen to Toby Mac and some other rapper the whole way up, boy was I looking forward to getting onto some roller coasters. Some of our younger group had never ridden the bigger roller coasters before and some had never ridden a roller coaster at all. So we had to break them in the right way.

First we stopped at the restrooms and while the girls waited in the hour long line (funny how there is always a long line to the girls bathroom) Andrew and Ryan got to have their picture taken with Speedy. Andrew is looking a bit suspicious of old speedy if you ask me.

First stop, Batman (after seeing that Superman was an hour long wait). Might as well start out with the big daddy rides first to break them in. That was a very nice first ride although I am not the biggest fan of Batman. Next ride, the Raging Bull; the first of 3 or 4 rides on the bull. Each ride was great. In fact the first ride was so great that as soon as we got off, we got back in line for another ride.

Here are some pics of the BULL.

Mr. and Mrs. M and Rachel and Liz were actually on this coaster going down. You probably can't see them, but they were there. I took this picture while waiting in line.

Here is Andrew, Jakob, Rick and Brad waiting for their turn to tame the bull. Rick is in deep thought. I think we was thinking "Don't puke".

Here is Ryan, Kathleen, and Elisa (and I'm there too, you just can't see me since I was taking the picture). We are heading up the bull for the first huge drop. I think Kathleen must have gotten a bug in her mouth or something.

This is still going up. What can you say, they were preparing for the ride down by raising there hands. This picture reminds me of the old deodorant commercial by the brand Sure. "Raise your hands, Raise your hands if you're Sure". Sorry, just thought I'd share that.

This picture is taken from the peak of the Bull, just before we head straight down. This is about the time we yelled, "Hey I can see Jessicaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah" as we plummeted straight down.

This is us plummeting! Yeah, the picture just doesn't do it justice. You feel like you are going to come out of your seet but the seat hold you in place thingy doesn't let you fall.....thankfully.

I think this picture was actually taken while we were riding the bull. I just stuck the camera over my head and took a picture behind us. I was surprised it actually came out. Look at the pure joy on the faces of these boys. Wow!

So that is part 1 of the Six Flags post. Once I get the rest of the pictures (Walgreens gave me a bad disk that I have to get replaced) I'll post more. Let's just say that the afternoon consisted of a lot of water. The words wet, cold, soaked, and tons of fun come to mind.

Overall we had a great time...at least I did. And I think I can speak for everyone else. I'll try to post more soon.

Blast off!

The title of this blog is in response to Kathleen's countdown on the comments section of my last post entitled "Sorry". She was counting down the days until it had been one month since I posted which would have been June 15th. So I decided to post a few days earlier since I had one second and who knows what is going on later this week - so BLAST OFF! Thank you for all your comments about how I should post more often - I'm just glad to know you read my blog and care about what I have to say - maybe!

I could say once again that I am sorry and that once again I have failed to keep the commitment I said I would try to keep in my previous blog - posting more - but you are probably tired of hearing apologies and would rather see results. And I could give you some good excuses why I have not posted, but I won't. But most importantly I am NOT going to make another promise or commitment that I am going to try to post more often because I will probably fail at it. Not that I don't want to post, but I don't always place posting on my blog as the top priority in my week.

You know, I was thinking about this whole situation in the Christian life and I was thinking how many times we desire to follow the Lord and we want to please Him and so we tell God that we will try real hard to do that. And then, we fail and fall flat on our faces once again in our relationship with the Lord. And then we say we are sorry and start the process over again.

But God uses these times in our lives to draw us closer to Him. He is teaching us that while our desire is good, our source of power is bad. Because we are trying to do for God ourselves rather than relying on what Christ has already accomplished for us through his death and resurrection and ascension. By this I am not just talking about salvation but that He has provided everything for us to live our lives each day in a way that brings honor to Him - through His power in us by means of the Holy Spirit.

So, I am not going to say that I am going to try harder to post. I do desire to post and communicate with you guys (gals included in the generic "guys"), but I don't always have the opportunity.

By the way, Six Flags Great America trip is June 23 for the Sr. High from 9:00 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. Cost is $20 and if you have a Coke can for $20 off bring that too. Just thought I should throw that in there in case I didn't post in the next month!