Six Flags Recap: Homeschool Family Day

For those of you who don't know, the family and I headed off to Six Flags Arlington on Thursday.

We actually drove to Sanger on Wednesday to see The Conns. Robert was kind enough to let me lead worship and preach a little at his youth service on Wednesday night, which was fun.

Then, on Thursday, Kristen, Jonah, Finley and I drove to Arlington for a very special "Homeschool Family Day" at the park. Since we're really not planning any big vacation this summer, we decided to take a few days and enjoy ourselves without spending too much money. Kristen found the homeschool thing online last week, so we bought our tickets and got up there as quick as we could.

Now, the interesting thing (and the reason for this post) is the questions folks have asked us about our day at Six Flags. Since this was a themed day, the park was open only for homeschoolers, which ended up being very nice - relatively low numbers, everyone was very kind, and we just felt safer hauling our kids around the park when it was filled with homeschool families. But the question we've been getting has been something like:

"So, how was the crowd?"

I understand this question, because I went into this thing fully expecting to be surrounded by people who made their own clothes and managed a large farming commune. So the people who knew we were going have wanted to know just who exactly shows up to Homeschool Family Day? Here's the breakdown..

THE DADS
I'd say there were three types of Dads at the park. I will list them from most popular to least.

1. Golf Shirt Dad
These dads tended to show up in really nice SUVs. Most of them were dressed very "corporate" or even "business casual." These dads also seemed to have larger families (4+ children.) Most of them didn't smile too much, but that could be a product of having to pay for 6 people all day in a theme park.
2. Christian Radio Dad
The second most popular Dad at the park was "Christian Radio Dad." That may seem like a weird description, but they seemed like dudes I know and go to church with who are pretty cool, relatively hip on culture stuff, but still fully embracing their Christian Dad status. I don't know why I'm using Christian radio to describe them. I guess the guys I know personally tend to be big supporters of radio that's safe and fun for the whole family. These guys smiled a lot.
3. Bearded Dad
I expected to see more beards, but they were there in limited quantity. These dads had the hardcore farm look working. They seemed to enjoy the park a lot, but I also saw a lot of them walking around by themselves. Most of them were very large and/or strong.
4. Puff Paint Dad
Puff Paint Dad was there in limited supply. These are the guys most likely to wear shirts with words written in "puff paint." I saw one canary yellow shirt puff-painted with DAD / PRINCIPLE OF WALKER SCHOOL / LOVE YA, DAD! The very few of this quantity seemed to very sweaty, which seemed to prove that they were really busy playing with their kids.

I was really impressed with the number of Dads there. As I get older, I gain more and more respect for those guys who are willing to leave behind their attempts to be cool and embrace their calling to love and educate and parent their children. I respect everyone of these Dads.

THE MOMS
Nothing really surprised me about the moms. I saw a few denim jumpers, but for the most part, the women looked like any other mom. There were quite a few hip moms and one who looked like a bodybuilder. Wasn't expecting THAT.

THE KIDS
I was surprised at how many emo homeschoolers there are. Saw lots of girl pants (not being worn by girls,) lots of jet black hair and hoodies. (Hoodies...in May...in Texas!) I saw a few really well-dressed kids with tucked in shirts or elaborate ensembles. I was also surprised how few "little kids" I saw. The crowd seemed to be a 12 and over bunch.

OTHER SURPRISES
1. One funny shirt that said something like: WARNING, UNSOCIALIZED HOMESCHOOLER; STUDENT WILL BE UNABLE TO MAINTAIN NORMAL SOCIAL CONVERSATION. Thought that was funny. Saw three of these.

2. I'm not near as brave as I used to be. Some of those rides scared me to death.

3. I'm also surprised how mad it makes me to pay $4 for a drink. But a guy needs his Diet Coke, right?
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Jonah had an absolute blast. My next post will tell you more about him and how much fun he and I had together at the park. It was definitely an experience I will not forget.