A Mommy Story

I’m still recovering from a weekend so busy that it felt like five days instead of two and a half. I spent the weekend in Sandusky at Cedar Point for BloggyCon. It was my first time attending this conference, but certainly not my first trip to Cedar Point. I couldn’t pass up the chance to multi-task by expanding my blogging knowledge while having some fun with the family all in the same weekend.

Cordy decided not to come with us. She’s becoming increasingly anxious about roller coasters, not even wanting to be in the same location as one. I didn’t want to push the issue and further her anxiety, so when she quietly asked if she could stay home, I asked my mom if she could stay with her for the weekend. My mom agreed, and Cordy got to spend some time with grandma while Aaron, Mira and I drove north as soon as school was out on Friday.

This was also the opening weekend of HalloWeekends at Cedar Point. They go above and beyond to decorate every inch of the park with ghosts, skeletons, and plenty of pumpkins. There are also several haunted house attractions, too, although we didn’t get the chance to go to any except the kids’ not-so-scary haunted house.

 This guy is HUGE and wakes up about every two minutes.

We arrived on Friday night around 7:30, quickly checked into our room at Hotel Breakers, then made our way to the boardwalk to pick up my registration materials for BloggyCon and then enter the park for some evening fun. The sun was just going down, and it was hard not to stop and admire the gorgeous views of Lake Erie, even if it was windy and cold.

Mira took a nap in the car on the way up, and was prepared to stay up late, since the park was open until midnight. We brought two friends with us, and one of them was happy to watch Mira while we went on a few coasters she was too small for. The park wasn’t too crowded, and the haunted houses were attracting a lot of the crowd, meaning we were able to walk right on several roller coasters.

I finally got to ride the Gatekeeper, the new winged coaster. It’s now my favorite ride ever. If you ever get the chance, you must try this coaster – the moments of weightlessness, the smooth turns and flips, and the experience of sitting out away from the track are amazing. I preferred the left wing, but it’s worth trying both sides.

We decided to call it a night around 11:30, realizing that BloggyCon sessions would begin at 9am the next morning. Waking up on Saturday wasn’t too easy, but a stunning view of the sun reflecting off the lake helped wake me up.

The BloggyCon sessions were interesting. I attended a sessions on building and engaging your community, Pinterest, affiliate marketing, finding sponsorship, and SEO. Honda was one of the sponsors, and they gave a great talk on preparing the perfect pitch when reaching out to brands for sponsorship. I took a lot of notes in that session.

There were several topics discussed that I already knew most of the details on. I’ve been blogging since 2005, so I’d hope by now that I have the basics under control! But even old bloggers can learn new tricks, and be reminded of practices they should be doing, and I did pick up a lot of new ideas in the SEO session.

The problem for me, as always, is finding the time to implement the things I need to do. I can’t claim blogging is boring by any means – as soon as I think I have it down, someone suggests a better way to do things, and then it’s back to square one.

Don’t think it was all note-taking and blog business, though. Honda provided everyone with a teddy bear and challenged us to take photos of the bear around Cedar Point. If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you probably saw several silly photos with my bear. I had far too much fun with it.

Hang on, friends! I’ll rescue you with this claw device!

Why is everyone running?

Beautiful day on Lake Erie.

Honda also showed off their new 2014 Odyssey. The big draw was the built-in vacuum cleaner. Forget my wish for a flying car – give me a minivan with a vacuum:

An in-car vacuum!

After the morning and early afternoon sessions, it was time to relax and enjoy Cedar Point. I met up with Aaron, Mira, and our friends for more fun in the park. Since it was HalloWeekends, Mira dressed in her new Halloween costume and entered the kids’ costume contest.

Meet Robin.

She didn’t win, but she had fun. Then it was off to trick-or-treat with the dinosaurs in Dinosaurs Alive! The dinosaurs even dressed up for us:

 I’m pretty!

I’m prettier – I’m a pretty princess!

Then it was time for more rides. Mira is our adventure junkie and loves roller coasters, as long as they’re not too tall. She rode the Corkscrew, the Cedar Creek Mine Ride, and the Iron Dragon several times.

And a few less scary rides.

We went on as many rides as our stomachs could handle, closing the park down with a last ride on the Raptor just before midnight. Mira, though, had finally given in to her exhaustion, and fell asleep on the bench while waiting for us.

 Aaron had to carry her back to our hotel room

I didn’t want to leave on Sunday. I love Cedar Point, and I love the entire Lake Erie region. I could easily spend a week out by the lake, exploring the sights on the shores and islands.

As we drove away, Mira sighed in a sleepy haze, “I can’t wait to go back again.”

Ditto, kid.