Tuesday was just like any other early summer day. The sun was shining bright, the sound of good ol' country music blasted through my radio, and I was surrounded by the people I loved most. Time is precious, so, on a beautiful day like that Tuesday, it would be a crime to not make use of it, right? That's why I hauled my boyfriend and little brothers to a Kentucky classic, Kentucky Kingdom.

I felt I had done everything I could possibly do to prepare for this day. I packed the boys in the car, fed them surplus amounts of Chick-Fil-A, lathered them in tons of sunscreen, and fueled the car for a fun-filled day. My goals for the day were to ride as many roller coasters as humanly possible and to enjoy the water park. Before parking Blue Belle (my beat up Ford ZX2) in the complimentary free parking for season pass holders, I turned to look at my 11-year-old brothers.

"If you ride three roller coasters today, I'll get us ice cream when we leave." I smiled and extended my hand to make a deal.

My youngest brother smiled with that crooked, mischievous smile he gets and said, "Deal."

The atmosphere walking in was electric. You could hear the shrieks and giggles of enjoyment from other enthusiastic park-goers and I couldn't wait to spend the day with my family. The park wasn't too packed and the lines were probably less than five minutes per ride, so, I took all the boys to my favorite steel roller coaster, Lightning Run, first. Upon riding the ride, I made the disheartening discovery that my little brothers were actually horrified––horrified doesn't even describe it––no, petrified of roller coasters. The entire notion of loud winding gears, blasts of wind, and shrieks of laughter totally freaked them out. The wager, however, was still on the line and the boys weren't willing to risk losing the chance of getting free ice cream.

Upon arriving at the second ride, Thunder Run, I could see they had moved past being petrified into a comatose state of just plain fear. Yet again, despite their fears, both boys rode the wooden coaster to prove they could win this wager. I felt horrible. They were beyond afraid. But, before I could say a word, the older twin pointed at the Roller Skates ride.

If you're unfamiliar with Kentucky Kingdom, allow me to take a moment to explain the Roller Skates. The ride is one circuit that includes a small, like an eight-foot drop that probably maxes out at 10-15 MPH tops. It's one of those rides that adults use to ease their kids into liking roller coasters. The actual seating arrangements are in the shape of roller skates, hence the name.

"That's our last roller coaster!" bellowed my youngest brother, returning that same mischievous smile I saw in the car. He was right; it was a roller coaster.

After riding the last "roller coaster," we enjoyed the rest of our day at the park in the water park to let my little brothers enjoy their rest of their time there. Despite the water being chilly because of an unrelenting breeze, we honestly had a great rest of our day. So, when my boyfriend suggested riding an easy ride that was more their speed to help us dry our clothes off my brothers were happy.

We had made our way across the park and found a carnival-style ride that just spun in circles at a slightly fast speed. My youngest brother didn't feel like riding any more rides because his sandals were hurting his feet, so, the older twin and I got in line to ride this twisty ride while my boyfriend and younger brother stayed behind on a nearby bench. As we made our way in line we were excited to see that within the next circuit we would be one of the first to be on. There were only two middle school-aged children in front of us.

I looked away for one moment to wave and smile at my boyfriend and brother when my other brother tugged on my shirt. I watched as eight middle school kids jumped the line, cutting my younger brother and I. Now, we probably would have still made it on the ride but there was a sign clear as day that read "line jumpers will be ejected from the park." I watched my little brother's face look down, visibly upset because he didn't think we would make it on the next ride.

I could have bit my tongue and not done anything. Maybe it was the summer heat, maybe it was the pulled muscle in my back from the gym the week before, maybe it was my sandals blistering my toes, or maybe it was the gloomy face of my baby brother. Either way, I knew what was right and what was wrong.

Those children cutting the line were wrong. The whole principle of following the rules and being nice to other people was an example I had to set for my younger brother. Not to mention, I had to show him how to stand up for himself. Bullies are bullies all the way around.

"Hey!" I yelled, "Did you see the sign?" I pointed at the line-jumping sign.

"We were already here, lady. Are you blind?" yelled one the kids.

"I can see fine. I saw two children in front of us in line and I'm going to ask the rest of you all to please get in the back of the line. We were waiting here first and it's not fair to him to not be able to ride because you all cut." I put my hand on my brother's shoulder.

The group made explicit, inappropriate noises, cursing at my brother and me.

My little brother looked up at me and said "Hey, I don't think I want to ride anymore. Can we go?"

I smiled, "We can go. I won't let them bother you or hurt you."

The group yelled, "You can't make him leave the line and not ride just cause you're scared, lady!"

I turned and smiled. "You won't be riding the ride either once the ride operator finds out about this," I said. Next time, don't be mean to little kids and follow the rules." (Wow, I'm a tattle-tale.)

I watched the group run in horror! Had I really told, they probably would have gotten ejected from the park or something of that nature? But I just let them sit on the thought that I did and someone was looking for them to eject them.

Later that day, I kept my promise and got everyone ice cream. The older twin that was in line with me got home and told my mom how I stood up to bullies and scared them away.

"You could have gotten yourself beat up! Girl, I don't know what I'm going to do with you!" my mom said.

If anything came from this craziness, it was the fact that I showed my little brother it's okay to stand up for yourself in a peaceful, polite manner. Bullies will always be bullies and honestly, those kids should have been supervised at the park. Either way, my family walked away at the end of the day happy.

Moral of the story: You're never too young to start telling kids to "get off your lawn" and you're never told old to get a lecture from your momma!