Another Six Flags trip I don’t want to forget! They must all be documented for posterity.
Unlike the previous one in April of 2025, Beth did not plan to join this trip. Her sister was getting married and Beth already had plans to go solo. What was I to do with Beth and Wren set for their own trip?
Six Flags, of course.
You’ll notice we often go in June. This is no coincidence. In the California heat, only the most dedicated are willing to wait in line for roller coasters. This means shorter lines. Six Flags trips are full of formative moments that turn my girls into true Quackenbush girls. Only the strong survive.
Ivy (age 4.5 at this time), Sage (age 3 years 9 months at this time), and I (age “old” at this time) left at 3:45am Thursday morning. We were planning a classic arrive at Six Flags in time for opening and spend the day there.
Ivy and Sage slept for the start of the drive. That changed at 6:00am when Ivy awoke… and started to throw up.
Luckily Ivy was officially the age where she recognized she wasn’t feeling well, giving me time for her to get a bag to throw up in. She handled it like a champ.
We stopped at the next gas station to get Ivy cleaned up and prepare for the remainder of our drive.
As we continued to drive, Ivy continued to get sick the entire way.
In between every “throw up session,” Ivy would immediately start saying, “I’m okay, I feel better, I want to go to Six Flags.” Her resilience was admirable, but even I was starting to doubt our upcoming day at Six Flags.
I recognize that many of you are reading this and saying, “What is wrong with you? You were actually thinking about still taking your 4.5 year old into Six Flags after throwing up for 4 hours during the drive there!?” Well, anything is possible.
We continued our drive and Ivy continued to be a champ.
We arrived at the pre-arranged meeting place with my family who was driving from Las Vegas.
Ivy’s throwing up was so persistent I started to think she wasn’t just carsick, but was really sick, as in a stomach bug. Turned out it almost certainly was car sickness because as soon we got to Wendy’s she was fine. She ate a bunch of food and said she wanted to go to Six Flags. Who was I to argue?
My notes on the actual time in Six Flags from almost two years ago are pretty sparse. These are my exact notes from back then:
Fine at park (Ivy didn’t throw up again).
Fine on rides (Ivy).
Ivy loves the Merry go Round even after a whole day of puking.
Balance of kid and adult rides.
Sage joy.
Ivy joy.
Great sisters.
Difficulty at Crazanity.
That last one I can elaborate on. At the very end of the night Ivy and Sage finally began to struggle. We planned to end our day at one of our favorite rides, Crazanity. Ivy and Sage did phenomenally for many hours at Six Flags. At the very end Ivy started to get crazy and was picking on Sage. All in all, they did awesome.
We left to go get dinner.
Remember when I said this a couple paragraphs ago:
“Ivy’s throwing up was so persistent I started to think she wasn’t just carsick, but was really sick, as in a stomach bug. Turned out it almost certainly was car sickness because as soon we got to Wendy’s she was fine.”
Maybe it was car sickness, but Sage threw up at dinner that night and… proceeded to throw up all night.
Here are my notes again from that time:
6/21/24
Sage threw up all night.
Haven’t really slept much in 48 hours.
In the morning she had a blow out diaper, up to her neck in it, literally.
Breakfast.
Sage threw up all over herself on the way to the beach.
Beach.
Awesome beach day. Sun, weather, sand, waves, water temperature.
Activities – body surfing, football, botchy ball, Spikeball.
Much needed nap.
Sage slept most of the time on the beach, poor girl.
When she was awake, she was all joy and laughter. She loved the sand and the beach. Huge difference from our last beach day that was cold, windy, and miserable.
Amazing seeing the transformation of Ivy the last couple months. Bag in the car and cleaning herself up. Her at the beach – in the water, playing in the sand, taking a nap, playing independently, eating fruit. It’s like watching her mature and grow overnight.
A couple months ago Ivy would go nowhere near the ocean. Now she was playing a game running away from the water but being totally fine when it “caught” her and she ended up waist deep.
Left the beach and went to the hotel.
Pizza.
Hanging out in the room.
Morning breakfast.
Pack up and head out.
Ivy and Sage both not throwing up. Stop for lunch at 2:00pm at Arby’s where Beth won’t let us eat.
Start driving back. Re-route to save 1 hour 6 minutes (who doesn’t do that?).
Unfortunately it took us through a winding canyon and Sage immediately threw up. Car sickness? Stomach bug? Beth would say Arby’s? Who knew at this point.
Finish the ride. Oh, wait, with 8 minutes left in our journey (not kidding), Ivy threw up all over herself.
Baths and bed.
Those are my original notes from the time and they seem good enough to paint the picture of the trip.
These are trips I will forget because as I get older all these memories start to slip. One day soon I’ll read this back and cry extensive tears missing these days. I love my girls.
No Coincidences 