The Compan family takes on Cedar Point

The Compan Family Fourth of July extravaganza turned seven this year. My Mom & Dad went all out and took the 17 of us up to Cedar Point for the holiday weekend (David, No. 18 in our bunch, was stuck at home, on call for work).

We stayed at The Breakers hotel—which I now believe is THE BEST way to visit the Point—and we split our time between the amusement park and the water park. Our days went a little like this: Ride all morning, come back for lunch, swim all afternoon, eat dinner, ride some more. It was not a bad way to spend a few days, especially for ride enthusiast like myself (David too... so it was a bummer he couldn't be there).

The most pleasant surprise was Noah—our very own rider daredevil. He would've taken on any ride or coaster at Cedar Point, height restrictions be darned. At one point during the trip, as we stood eating a Slurpee under the Raptor, Noah looked up and said to me, "Mama, can I ride that one? Well, probably I'm too big for it." Of course!

As always, this trip was one to remember. Some of my most favorite moments on this Earth are with my folks, my brothers & sister and their families.

We had a picnic lunch when we first got to the park on one of the many Breakers lawns.

The first ride the boys hit when we got in the park was the Frog Hopper. Andrew & Brendan were DQ'd for being too tall (!), but Adam, Matthew & Noah were able to go. They're the three on the left.

Noah's first roller coaster! The is the Gemini Jr. (or Jr. Gemini?). Noah rode with Matthew. They're in the red car, and Noah's in the front right. He loved it!

Not sure what this ride is... it may be the Woodstock Express, which had a respectable amount of pep to it (I believe Evs even remarked that it nearly scared him to death... or something like that).

Camey, Noah & Ev, waiting for their turn on the balloons—Camey's first ride ever!

Rylan generally snoozed through the noise and bustle of the park, but I managed to catch this sweet shot of him.

Grandma Compan, Evan & Noah were put in time out for a while between kiddie lands.

Camey & Noah on the spaceships.

Auntie Em & Evan took the front car on the little Gemini.

During dinner at Friday's, I took the boys out to run while we waited for our food, and again while we waited for the check. I enjoyed this one-on-one time with my nephews a great deal. We played "Mother, May I?," "Duck, duck, goose," races and wrestling. Our only mishap was that poor Ev got chased by an angry red-winged sparrow, which was a tad bit frightening for a five-year-old!

All the grandkids (and Grandpa too)! L–R: Brendan, Grandpa, Ry, Adam, Ev, Matthew, Noah, Camers & Andrew.

And here are the rest of us (minus David). Check out our groovy t-shirts. I whipped up the design this year, and I think they turned out pretty cool!

One of the many, many spinning rides we tried out. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to keep those things from moving in circles!

Brendan, Andrew & Noah, under the waterfall in one of the four kiddie lands at the park.

Grandpa was pooped after all that action, and a long round of fireworks.