Guest Blogger ~ Jacob's Party Day

Today we have a special guest blogger as Jacob details his day at a birthday party. This blog is based on a true story. Although Jacob will not be typing the blog, the author will add a few comments which will be noted by the ( ) so be advised when you see this, you’ll know that the author has added in the comments. Just to lay the foundation for the story, Jacob came home on Friday with an invitation to a classmate’s birthday party. The party was being held at the Giant Wheel Park (the largest Ferris Wheel in China that never stops and takes about 30 minutes to go the full circle) which not only has the Ferris Wheel but several other carnival type rides along with a small roller coaster. We contacted the boys father and let him know that Jacob would be there for the party which ran from 10 am until 5 pm. We met Alex and his father Mike around 9:30 at the Chateau when they dropped in to pick up Jacob and take him to the party.

We arrived at the Giant Wheel Park and we went over to the Disko ride. I decided not to get on this ride although Alex, Cole and Andy gave it a try. Then we moved to the giant swings, I was a little hesitant to go on the ride but after watching Alex, Cole and Andy have a good time I decided to give it a try. I enjoyed the ride so much that I rode it three straight times. Then we moved over to the Ferris Wheel to get on that and see the view. The line was really, really, really…..really long. After about 45 minutes we were finally able to get on the ride. While on the ride I had to go to the bathroom but there isn’t a quick way off so I had to wait to do my business (unlike many of the others on the ride). While we were on the ride, one father held up his little son so he could pee out the side of the ride when we were about one quarter of the way around the wheel. (Look up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s…..a kid peeing out the side of the Ferris Wheel). In each of the Ferris Wheel carts, there was a small TV screen that showed random tv shows. While watching, I saw a news story about a guy that urinated into a plastic bag and threw it out the window (look out below!).

After the Ferris Wheel, we took a boat ride out to the island on the lake (Jinji Lake). It took about a 50 minutes before we could get on the boat out to the island. It was a short trip out and once we got there, we go on to a long golf cart and were taken on a tour of the island. The tour was very short, about 5 minutes and then we had to grab a boat back to shore. Upon our return, it was time to leave the park and get something to eat. (There were no eateries in the park so you had to leave the park to eat. BUT once you left, there was no returning to the park without paying again).

We had lunch at Pizza Hut at New Times Square. We had salad, salmon, mushroom soup, bacon & mushroom pizza, popcorn chicken and a drink that had chocolate milk with a chocolate scoop of ice cream on top, that was really good. For desert (like that was needed after all of that food) was a brownie sundae and a birthday cake, which was a cheesecake.

After lunch, we went to Cartoon Land (a two-story arcade area at New Times Square) where we played bumper cars and all kinds of arcade games. We played one racing game where we all raced against each other and I came in first 5 times. Then after all of this, it was time to go. Mister Mike called Dad and we met them out in front of Papa John’s.

(We actually headed out to New Times Square about 3:00 since we knew we would need to pick him up near the Giant Wheel Park. It was the first time back for us since the family got here back in June when it was hotter than all get out. The weather was very nice today, cool and a little overcast. It was a good day for Jacob and he was very tired when we got him. We are pleased that he has adjusted so well and made new friends. We were shocked to hear what he ate for lunch since he is a little finicky….a little. Anyhow, it was an interesting tale to hear over dinner so we asked him to tell the tale again for the blog. We hope you enjoy the tale.)