We just got our old time photo taken again. This is the fourth year. We get it taken every July at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. It is really fun to get all dressed up and take pictures together. On the left is our first picture.

This is our second picture. We brought in our first picture and asked them to come as close as possible to the first one. They came pretty close! We didn’t get a third picture because we messed up. We were not finacially able to get it but we remember that for future years!

This is our fourth and most recent picture. Two people there thought our idea was so cool! They triend do hard to make it perfect! They had us move over an inch because we weren’t covering the bar enough! They changed out the bottle on the table 3 times! They had to put two headbands on me beacuse they didn’t have the right one! Thank you so much Sarah and Carney for doing that for us! We had so much fun and hope you did to!

Posted: July 28th, 2008 under Amusement Parks, Trip Report, Weekend.
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On Tuesday night,  Dad and I got stuck at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, because he had earlier lost his glasses in the ocean. He can’t see squat withount glasses! We had to wait for a good friend of our to come pick us up.

Although the world was blurry to him, we decided to play a couple midway games. The first was Roll A Ball. It is a racing game, where you roll a ball up a small ramp and it falls in a hole marked either slow, fast, or faster.  That then moves your figure (horse, car, etc.) foward, racing your opponent. Dad and I played and I beat him HAHAHA! I was proud of myself. I got a little blue dragon!

The next was Desperado. A mix between a ride and a game. You pay a small fee, and then walk into a room with about 18 small very low key mechanical bulls. There is a big screen in front of you and you shoot bad guys with your gun ,while your bull gently bucks. It is very fun, but he beat me even with bad eyesight.

We also played Flip It. A game where you launch a rubber chicken into a pot. There I got a little duckie that had a bunch of fuzz. He was a fuzzball. A ball of fuzz. Fuzz reminded me of cops. Cops reminded me of donuts. It also reminded me of bacon. Therefore, the duck is named Bacon!

Posted: July 23rd, 2008 under Amusement Parks, Critter, Weekend.
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I have been to well over a dozen amusement parks in California! I’ve ridden about 50 roller coasters , half a dozen tilt a whirls, a dozen or so swing rides,  roughly a dozen dark rides, about7 drop towers, and a ton of others, all in all atleast 150 rides! You could say I’m a ride junkie! Here are my  top 5 rides:

5 Insanity - Stratosphere - Las Vegas, NV

Yeah, I know it isn’t in California. But it is in my top 5. All the others are in California though. This is such a cool and fun ride! It is at the very TOP of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas! It is kind of like a swing ride, but 906 feet obove the strip, with nothing underneath you!!!!!! There are 5 “arms” with 2 seats on each, all facing in. The gate of the Stratosphere disapeers, as the “arms” open up and you rotate over the strip. Such a cool ride day or night.

4 Toy Story Midway Mania - Dinsney’s California Adventure - Anaheim

This is a dark ride/ shooting game.   Two people sit side by side with a pull string gun in front of you. You put on 3D glasses and are on your way!  The whole point is that you area toy playing with a toy midway. There is a paintball on bullseye  game, a ballon dart game, a baseball game, a ring game, and a kid dart game. The same gun works for all games and you get points. At the end, it adds up all your points, and you get a virtual prize.

This ride made it on my top 5 for several reasons. One, it is cool that it is a midway. Midways are awesome, and this one is realistic! Second, I think it’s well done. The prize thing is cool, The games are realistic, the set, the other toys and games around you, etc. The only bad thing, nis that it doesn’t have a ride photo. Otherwise, it’s great ride!

3 Gravitron - Santa Teresa High School Fundraiser Carnival (Butler Amusements) - San Jose

This was my first Gravitron.  I watched it first and it just looked like aspinning top. When I went in, it just lookedlike a spinning ride where you stood up and felt the gravity. Dad told me to watch the other people, and I quickly learned. The centrifugal force pushes you against the wall so you can climb around, lay upside down, twist and turn, and not fall! It was such a cool experiance. I wish they were at every amusement park! I would have no problem waiting in line because they are so FUN!

2 Ghostrider - Knott’s Berry Farm - Buena Park

This was in my opinion the best woodie (wooden roller coaster) in California. Atleast in the front. This coaster just blew me away with it’s speed, drops, dips, airtime and almost everything else about it! It also has a ride photo. Unfortunatly, the back of the car sucks. It is extremely jerky, unfomfotable and just bad. Dad and I rode in the very front once, and 2 cars from very back the second time. This coaster is really awesome, just make sure you ride in the front!

1 X2- Six Flags Magic Mountain - Vallejo

Wow! This ride is so amazing! It is the craziest roller coaster I’ve ever been on! With it’s max speed of 76 miles an our, it’s 2o story height, and 3,610 foot long track, you don’t know what’s going to happen next. Not to mention the fire and ice special effects, high tech audio, and spinning seats! Yep spinning seats! Your seat turn 360 degrees while on this crazy coaster featuring loops, corkscrews, drops, spins, and everything in between!

Posted: July 23rd, 2008 under Amusement Parks, Trip Report, Weekend.
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I just got back from a week long trip from LAS VEGAS, with my mom and brothers. We visited my grandparents and uncles.

We visited the Excalibur. It’s a giant castle. There is a casino, an arcade,  and a midway inside. We played some games at the midway. I got a stuffed rose, and my brother got a plastic sword.  We played  in the arcade long enough for me to get a big sour pixie stick (to share) and my brother to get some tattoos. We walked to strip a little longer, seeing the Luxor.

It was so hot, the next day we bought an inflatable pool. we set it up in the backyard, and cooled off in that. It  was 113 degrees outside! we also went to Texas Station, and ate a buffet! There was SO MUCH FOOD! It was like 10 times as big as Home Town Buffet! Not to mention, it had a dessert bar! HOW COOL!

At night, the next day, we drove to Buffalo Bill’s in Primm NV. There is a roller coaster there. It does not  go upside down, has no picture, is steel, sort of jerky, 95 miles an hour, with a 225 foot drop, it’s DESPERADO!!!!!  It was fun, but 8 dollars a person. I got a smashed quarter from it.

There was also a log flume with a twist. You take a peaceful ride down a river in a log, while SHOOTING TARGETS!!!!!!! It is a shooting game and a log ride mixed! at the end, there is a big drop, but you don’t get soaked! I thought that was a cool idea.

Also at Buffalo Bill’s, there was a candy store. (Woo Hoo) This candy store had an interesting way to make us buy their candy.  If you buy five dollars worth, you get to write on the wall! Every September they paint over it. There was Sharpie all over the walls and the only rule, is that you can’t use bad words. My brother and I got to write on virgin wall because there was no other space. I wrote my name, my age, my city and state, the date, and my website www.zairabear.com in 5 different colors!!!!!!!!!!!! I also drew my heart symbol. My brother just wrote his name. My mom wrote that she loves all her children.

We went to Peter Piper’s Pizza with my mom’s friends the next day. It is like Chuck E Cheese. There I met J a 6 year old little girl. She is my mom’s friend’s daughter. We got pizza and 35 tokens each. We played in the arcade and crawled around in the playground. I got over 300 tickets!!!

After that, we dropped off my brother’s and picked up my uncle CJ. We went to the Stratosphere!  CJ and I went up 1000 feet in an elevator moving 21 miles an hour, while my mom and her friend’s stayed in the casino. We could see all of Vegas from up there! It was amazing! The first ride we went on was XScream.  It is like a teeter totter that lets you slide off the side of the Stratosphere! It was cool. then to ride INSANITY!!!!!!!!!! You are sitting and spinning over Vegas with nothing under you! It feels like your flying almost! It was SO much fun!!!!!!

The next day, my mom, my brother’s and I went to Circus Circus. We saw really cool circus acts. we even got to go on the stage to take a picture with an awesome juggler, and no one else did! We played in a giant midway, where my brother got a guitar and I got a bear wearing a circus circus sweater on him, that I named Vladamir.

Then we went to Fremont Experience.  We walked around and saw cool stuff. We also ate at another buffet. My mom showed us where she grew up and where her and her Dad’s old business was. We also saw Chip and Dales handing out Mardi gras beads. It was e=fun! We left just as the light show was starting, but saw it  from the road.

We had a GREAT trip to Vegas!

Posted: July 18th, 2008 under Amusement Parks, Mommy, Trip Report.
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Dad and I went to Pacific Park amusement park at Santa Monica Pier! The first thing you see when you  walk in is a GIANT WONDER WHEEL! I has a 3 and a half minute light show! It flashes, spirals, stars, spurs, and has an electronic sign n the middle!  The best part, it’s ALL SOLAR POWERED!!!!! The lights, the sign, the moving, EVERYTHING!!!!! I thought iot was awesome!

     I had never  been on a Wonder Wheel until about a month ago. Dad scared me by saying, I could clumsily trip, tip over our gazebo, fall, and DIE! He didn’t say all of that, but it was implied. I was scared to go on this awesome somlar powered wonder wheel. He then said he was messing with me. I felt relieved, and rode the ride, being very cold! A cool amusement park ride!

Posted: June 9th, 2008 under Amusement Parks, Trip Report, Weekend.
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Man have I had a crazy couple of weeks! My dad and I went to Hard Rock Park in South Carolina as a surprise. We were one of the first riders on a ride called POny Express at Knott’s Berry Farm. My mom and I slept overnight in Magic Mountain, and were one of the first riders to ride X2. Here is a brief summary of them.

South Carolina was awesome! My dad and I flew out there for 5 days. We went to a small park called Family Kingdom. That was really fun. We also went to grand opening of Hard Rock Park.  It was amazingly themed! Disneyland level theming! Everything was music! Their front gate restaraunt is The Whammy Bar, they have the Guitar in the Stone, themed rides, and rockin’ mascots! It was so cool! What a cool experiance!\

Pony Express at Knott’s Berry Farm was cool, but not… We got to stay in the Knott’s Berry Hotel vs. Motel 6. Cool. We ate breakfast at a GREAT restaraunt! We got to get in early in the morning. There was a huge continental breakfast. Then it got bad.  Kiss FM winners got to ride before us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then, we get to ride. While in line, we were interviewed. Then we got on. What a bad ride! You sit in an uncomfortable position with a bar squishing your back. The ride starts with a nice launch, then slows and ends. It is like a 20 second ride! Bad.

The next weekend, my mom and I had a great experiance! We drove all the way to LA in 4 hours, when average is 5and a half hours! We only had 1 bathroom break. We got there, and got to ride X2 for an hour. IT WAS CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Watch this video to see! We then set up camp and went to bad on the sand after some free midnight snacks. The next morning, we got a HUGE buffet breakfast, and got to ride again. Wow was it great! We also got Flash Passes for all day on the ride! How cool!

I have had a great couple of weeks, and thank you Mommy and Dad for helping and sharing it with me!

Posted: June 3rd, 2008 under Amusement Parks, Mommy, Review, Trip Report, Weekend.
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Howdy y’all!

This is Z’s Dad dropping by to let anyone wondering know why Z wasn’t at school today (and why she won’t be there tomorrow or Friday either) - three words: Hard Rock Park-
Yep, that’s right, I dragged Z off to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Just follow the link above to see my post about it.

Posted: May 7th, 2008 under Amusement Parks.
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As you may or may not know, I am a big roller coaster fan. I love going on roller coasters, and being on roller coasters. My dad and I want to ride all the coasters in California. My dad really likes the wooden roller coasters. My favorites are the crazy, upside down, corkscrew coasters.

I think roller coasters are extremely fun! How ever, they are the best when I go on them with Aahz. (my dad) I have never been on a roller coaster without him that was more fun than one with him.

My dad and I collect roller coaster pictures of us. They are on the wall in his room. We have 10 so far and 4 other ride and amusement park photos. I like watching the collection expand.
Prepare to hear about roller coasters and amusement parks a lot on my blog. Got to go to Great America. Bye!

Posted: February 1st, 2008 under Amusement Parks.
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