Friday, September 18, 2015

The day after vacation... FUN DAY!

Some people might call us crazy, and often they would be correct. However, we try to out crazy the crazy!!!!  That's right!  We have learned that if we can predict crazy and do something even crazier we will be victorious.  The day after getting home from visiting grandparents is always REALLY REALLY hard.  If you know our day to day life, you know that every day is hard.  I can promise you, the days after vacation are truly worse!  We decided we didn't want that to happen this time.  

We had promised the kids we would go to a local amusement park all summer.  M wanted to go for his Birthday and we said yes.  We noticed that his Birthday fell on a Saturday and decided that wouldn't be a great day to go because the lines would be long.  Summer School was over and Brandon has Monday's off so we opted for a Monday Funday the day after traveling.  This began a trend of Monday Funday celebrations for the rest of summer break.

The kids didn't have a clue.  We got them dressed and ready for the day and then we told them.  They were SO very excited!  It was no small task to get lunch and snacks ready with two very excited kids in a house that was not really all put together after the travels.  We eventually made it out the door. The kids weren't super impressed by the length of the drive after the full day in the van the day before.

Anticipation was high when we arrived at the park.  We decided for bathroom breaks and a picture before the fun began.  I insisted that we take a picture on both the phone and the camera so that if something happened to our kids we had a pic of them looking just like they did that morning.  Paranoid mom? Yes, but look at the sweet photo of my kids that happened.

We are ready to rock this park!  

M was a hard age/size for a lot of the rides.  He has LOTS of fears so that prevents him from several of the rides.  He is short in stature so that prevents him from several rides.  Many of the rides he is left with are "baby rides."  He didn't like several of the rides.  He let us know.  He also was experiencing sensory overload! Parenting isn't easy friends.  On the other hand, T LOVED the rides. She loved it all!  She was grinning from ear to ear most of the day.  

T: This is fun.  M: Not really. 

Pretty much says it all! 

...So we focus on JOY JOY JOY!!!!

T really wanted to go down the BIG slide!  Brandon took her.  It was super steep.  She was brave.  M and I cheered and attempted photos.  M was all over me while I took them and of course I was taking through a fence, but you can tell it is them.


T: This is quite a climb! (Brandon took this on the way up the slide)
About to sit down, they are on the far left of the photo!

T:  Another Hill!!!

T: I loved it Daddy! 
After the slide we decided it was time to check out the train.  This was a ride that we all enjoyed!

Here comes our train!

M: Yay!  A real train ride!

M: But, it won't go to fast, will it? 

After the train we all went on the carousel.  The kids both loved it.  We decided to do it again right away as there wasn't a large line.  

T: Giddy Up Rooster!

The rooster in action.  I may have thrown up a little taking this photo while moving! 

Happy Boy!

We are ready for round two!  T: I found a bunny!


Hi everyone! 

Brandon and I split up at one point so that he and M could ride the bumper cars.  They got through a long line and were walking to a car when they were flagged and told M was not tall enough to ride.  M was crying and Brandon was almost in tears.  Such a hard moment for them.  Let's all pray for 42 inches by next summer so he can ride more rides!

While they were waiting in line for the bumper cars, T was able to do two rides.

T: I am in a bug!

T: It went pretty fast, but I held on tightly! 
After the sad ride that didn't happen we went and watched some of the really fast rides the big kids ride.  Then we decided it was time for our picnic lunch.  There were many lovely areas to eat.  After lunch the park got a lot busier.  We decided to do one more train ride and one more carousel ride.  The line for the train was REALLY long, but we pressed on and were able to ride.  We got the other train this time.  It was fun to try that one.  The kids really enjoyed the ride.


Hop in Daddy!

M: I like to keep Mommy close!

T and M:  Hello everyone!

T: Daddy is my favorite buddy!

Someone is enjoying it!!

M and T:  This was the REAL train we rode on! 
Our time at the park ended with a carousel ride.  T rode a reindeer and didn't want to get off at the end of the ride.  She was "that kid" who was screaming and had to have every finger peeled off the pole.  It was quite dramatic!  Oh dear.  

We decided it was time to say good-bye to the park, but not time to head home.  Brandon and I planned to stop at a small (free) Zoo on the way home.  We didn't say anything to the kids until we were in the parking lot.  They were VERY excited.  Sadly, the Zoo's glory days were in the past.  There were some animals, but you could tell they used to have a lot more to offer.  It ended up being the perfect size for my kids as the big Zoo around here is very overwhelming for them, or at least one of them.

T: This drinking fountain is awesome!!!

Mommy and some excited animals!

Daddy with his favorite animals!

M and T:  Look Mommy!  Look!  

M and T: We LOVE prairie dogs.  We had recently read a non-fiction book about them so the kids were very excited to see real prairie dogs! 

M: Hey buddy!  You are cute!

Checking out some sort of Timber Wolf. 
T: Can I get closer to the Cougar?  No sweetie, the fence is their for a reason!

T: Hello there goose.  Come closer and I will pet you! 
T: You can come closer, I won't bite!

T: Good Job!  Want to come closer? 
T: Hello Turkey.  You are so cute!

T: That turkey was my friend!

T: Hello Pig!  Thanks for coming closer. You are so cute and a little smelly!

T: Hello Bison!  You are a little bit bigger than the turkey and the pig.  You can stay back there if you want. 

A rare moment of beauty in our backseat!

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