The Funnest Place. Ever.

(Sorry I went missing. In the last two weeks we have listed our house, sold our house, bought a house, had a dance recital, welcomed a new nephew into our family, and, you know, all the other normal stuff!)

A few weeks ago Daddy's company had their summer picnic at Kennywood Park. Daddy and I have always enjoyed going to Kennywood as they have about five roller coasters to enjoy (three nice wooden ones!). BUT, Colin and Gillian have never been there! It's so close! But we've chosen, in the past two years, to drive over to Idlewild for our amusement park fun. This year we thought we'd check out Kennywood. Besides, the advertising was working on Colin and he NEEDED to see the Black Widow ride.

First up, we took the kids on the ONLY roller coaster they were tall enough to ride on. It was their first roller coaster ever.....and it might be their last for a while.



Colin did look a little skeptical there, huh? Well, they both reported that the roller coaster was "too fast, too hilly, and too curvy." BUMMER. Mommy and Daddy like roller coasters!

So, off to Kiddy Land. Yay.




THIS is the ride they ended up liking best. The mini-roller coaster. They rode it about fifteen times.






More fun!










Daddy was actually along too! He just took all the other pictures!


Goofy.


So, we had a great day! Colin declared Kennywood the "Funnest place EVER!" and he insisted that we needed to return the next day.

Idlewild Family Fun!

Last Friday we surprised the kids with a trip to Idlewild, a local amusement park. On Thursday when they asked what we were doing tomorrow (like they ALWAYS do), we told them we were going on a "surprise adventure." Colin quickly discerned that we were going to the Children's Museum. Gillian guessed that we were going into the city to get a lemonade. Hmmmm. We just let them mull it over all night long! In fact, we didn't tell them where we were going until they were buckled in the car.

Now, they were greased up with sunscreen and we had packed a huge picnic lunch, but they were STILL convinced we were going to the Children's Museum. So finally we told them, "We are going to IDLEWILD!" We got immediate HUGE grins and a long "WOOOOOAAAAAHHHHH" from Colin. They were pleased.

The rides open at 11:30 and that's just about when we got there. So first up we ate some lunch. Well, Daddy, Gillian, and I ate some lunch. Colin kept taking two bites and saying he was done.


Ok, finally it was to have SOME FUN. First we hit the log plume ride and then the ball bit. Gillian loved the ball pit last year and, boy, she did again this year. She was in HEAVEN. The pictures were just the kids in line, the netting prevented any "inside" pictures! I wish I would have gotten one of G's smile though.


Next up Colin spotted the HUGE shaky bridge and accompanying climbing "stuff" and he was off like a rocket. He was about 20 feet ahead of us for a while. Finally we had to sit him down and explain the "stay WITH US" rule. A picture of his BIG, favorite bridge.


We wandered over in the "old" park that has most of the "big" rides in it. What's nice about Idlewild though is that even most the "big" rides are approved for kids 36" or taller with an adult rider. The kids pretty much had their pick of rides! We started with the balloon ride that we could all ride together.


(The only picture of me from the entire day. Notice my super chic sunglasses "rope." I just got new, EXPENSIVE prescription sunglasses and I was terrified that they would fly off on the rides. So I swallowed my fashion pride and tied them to my head.)

Colin really, really wanted to ride the ferris wheel. Gillian did not. So Colin and I rode the ferris wheel and Daddy and G took a ride on the Paratrooper. It took FOREVER to load (and then unload) the ferris wheel and we only got about a 45 second ride in between. So, skipping that next year. Colin and I did take some NICE pictures up top though!



Look, Daddy and Sissy!


Then we headed for "kiddie land" for some more fun! First up was the bumper cars. I have no idea where the kids saw or heard about bumper cars, but they KNEW they HAD to ride them. It was funny to see them try to push the "go pedal" and "turn the wheel" at the same time. They weren't very effective, but they did move and bump a bit!




BIG smiles on that ride!

Then lots more fun!










Added bonus at Idlewild this summer: Live Thomas the Train Show. Although, in our opinion: very, very lame. Just awful. Even Colin, lover of all things Thomas, was ready to leave after a few minutes.



(Michael's pained expression)

We had more fun riding the "real" train that acts as sort of a transportation system from one side of the park to the other. We were headed back the car to get our swim gear so we could get wet!

The "engineer" warns of "two loud toots" of the train's whistle. The kids took him seriously.




We picked our swim stuff and left the camera in the car....but we had a great time in the water! Last year it was so incredibly hot (upper 90s) when we were there that this year (low 80s) it felt kind of COLD in the water! In fact, the wave pool was too cool for the kids. They didn't even make it through one set of waves! They did enjoy the "kiddie pool" and some little water slides. And Gillian sunned herself like a lizard on a lounge chair.

By that time we had two tired kiddos. So we got dressed again rode the carousel and Tilt-a-whirl and scarfed a funnel cake (yum) and headed for home. We all had a fantastic day. Happy kids, beautiful weather, and a great time together!

An Amusing Day!

Last Friday, which was I swear the hottest day on the earth, ever, we took the kiddos to Idlewild for the first time! It was also Daddy's birthday. We had our trip planned for about a month and Daddy had taken the day off of work, as had GraGra and Papa Greg. So, when the day loomed and it was to be about 95 degrees with 100% humidity, I still felt badly about rescheduling the day, so off we went. To sweat. A lot.

When we arrived at 10:30, the only part of the park that was open was Storybook Forest. Umm, we won't bother with that again. It's a "walk through" attraction from the 1950's (I think), and it looked it. There were all sort of little houses and nursery rhyme objects to walk through and look at, and that was about it. Their little figurines were creeping me out too. The kids seemed indifferent. They liked the little wooden train and the lollipops that Little Red Riding Hood gave them.

Woot woot! (as Colin would say)


Queen of the disgruntled look. She kept wanting to run 20 feet ahead of us and wasn't pleased to have to stay with the adults!




So, by the time we were done with the Storybook Forest, we were soaked in sweat and needing water. It was ridiculous. Onward and upward!

We moved on to the "Jumping Jungle" section of the park. Much more fun! The kids spotting a HUGE ball pit and they were off! Daddy was convinced that Colin would hate it and immediately want OUT. But, no! He loved it! They both did! Gillian kept diving into the balls like they were water and telling us she was swimming!



They also liked to race on this giant slide!


After the Jungle, we pulled out the coolers, found some shade and had our picnic lunch. Grammy was nice enough to make Daddy's favorite funfetti birthday cake too! Although, we didn't sing to him. Bean did enjoy the cake though!

After lunch we headed towards the "kids" section, although the whole park is mostly geared towards younger kids. C&G could ride each and every ride in the "kids" section. And they took good advantage of that! We were so happy that Colin outgrew his dislike of rides! He had so much fun! And Gillian has always loved rides!

First up was the "Grand Prix" style drive!



And some airplanes (they never figured out that the stick makes the plane go up and down, bummer.)


We tried to convince Gillian that this turtle ride was a rollercoaster. We weren't sure she'd be tall enough to ride the BIG coaster. She almost bought what we were selling. But, in the end, it didn't cut it as a "turtle coaster." Smart girl. She did enjoy the turtles though!



While in kiddie land we also (all) road the train around the park and gulped some lemonade, and rode one or two more kid rides. By then the adults were melting and desperate for the "water" portion of Idlewild. Bring on the WET.

With a bit of jostling and waiting, we all changed into swimsuits. All the ladies agreed that it is IMPOSSIBLE to don a bathing suit when your entire body is covered in sweat. It just doesn't work. Although, it was amusing!

Obviously we didn't get the camera out in the water park, but I will assure you: Nothing has ever felt as good as that water did when we FINALLY got in the pool! All the adults just stood under the running water in the kiddie pool with big grins of relief! C&G really enjoyed the water too. They did lap after lap of the 2 foot deep kiddie pool and even ventured a bit under the "waterfall" there. However, the BIG hit in the water park was the wave pool. The park supplies (and requires) life vests for non-swimmers and kids under 48" so the kiddos felt pretty secure, I think. The waves were "turned off" when we got in the pool, but it didn't take long for them to come on. The kids shrieked and giggled and splashed and had the best time! It was great to see them have so much fun!

After a good cool down and some fun in the water, the kids were looking tired and it was after 4:00, so time to head home! As we headed back through the park, we rode the carousel and Papa Frank and Daddy rode the big rollercoaster. Don't tell Gillian. She is STILL insisting that she wants to ride the coaster! Honestly, she was tall enough to ride it, but I wasn't waiting in that line with her! This Mama was hot, tired, and DONE. Next time, Bean. Promise.

Some last pictures of my ragamuffin children. They were both mismatched at this point. As Daddy and I changed them out of their swimsuits and into fresh, clean clothes.....they both peed. Ooops. We forgot to account for the amount of pool water they must have had to drink! So, mismatched clothes for the ride home! Oh well!



The kiddos look pretty tired in the those pictures! We all were! We spent the rest of the weekend recuperating. And the kids came down with fevers and colds! But, it was a fun, fun day. Next summer, we'll pick a cooler day though!