I Feel Like I Cheated on Disneyland

There is this amusement park right up the road from us, but somehow we have never gone. Until now...

Ha ha!! We had so much fun. All things taken into account, it is probably just as well that we didn't go until now since only two kids were really the right height. And Ivory was in tears each time she came up to another height sign that read 46 inches. (She is only 43.) But a little cotton candy took care of those leaks. And really, you will see from the pictures that she had a blast.

But I should go back to the beginning. This was the first ride of the day.

Daisy and I came on after. I had to talk her onto the ride and you can see that she was still not convinced.

I held her hand and she decided that it wasn't so bad after all. I think she even smiled at the end.

If Pearl could talk, she might mention that Lagoon is a rip off. She got toted around and could only go on a few rides, but still...she was with family, she got to play, we ate snacks and drank soda (usually off limits at our house) so she can't complain too much. Plus, no one even tried to make her take a nap. Yeah, I think she had a good time too. (Unless you count the train where they got a little too close to an elk. She is not a fan of animals close up.)

But she seemed to dig the new experience.

I would like to say that we didn't lose anyone, all day. (Wait, unless you count the water park where I had no idea where anyone was half the time. Let's not count that.) I spent plenty of time counting heads, but we were good.

We spent some time apart. I took the older two on a the big white/brown roller coaster and Tyler chilled with the minis.

It is not really fair because I can look at the pictures and feel like I didn't miss anything, but he didn't get to see the girls on the big rides. But we switched around enough that it all worked out.

I dropped in for a moment, but then we were off to go on the Spider.

I think the Spider was my favorite ride. I was worried since I don't do spinning rides and the Spider definitely has some twists and turns. But it was really fun. Except the part where we got off and June was no longer sporting her glasses. Oops. (We checked security twice and they never showed up. Boo. Consequently, the Spider was NOT June's favorite ride.)

Meanwhile, Tyler and Grandma were still having fun with the kids. (Sorry, Grandma, I should have mentioned you earlier.) Grandma came down from Idaho. She loves Lagoon and she was so fun to have along. She went on some rides that I would pass on, and she was the perfect filler to our group. And she is just plain fun to have around. Thanks again for coming.

Okay, where were we? Right, kids having fun.

I like the big kid in the red hat.

Then it was time for a change of scenery. We headed over to Lagoon A Beach. (Every time I heard Grandma talk about it, I assumed it was named Laguna Beach. Nope, it is just Lagoon...A Beach. A little weird, if you ask me, but punny.)

The water was the perfect distraction and relaxer. We had a lot of fun, but this would be where I lost track of everyone. This is the last I saw of these two for a while.

I did a lap or two in the lazy river with Tyler and Ivory, but then they were gone. I caught up to Pearl and then somehow it was just the two of us. This is not surprising actually. No one really wants to watch Pearl at the pool, because she doesn't do much, but at the same time, she is hard to keep up with. (Well, Grandma was watching the other escape artist, Daisy, so she probably had her work cut out for her too.)

Pearl and I took a turn on the lazy river and Dad found us there. (And those aren't glow in the dark nylons...those are just my legs.)

Eventually I headed back to camp and Pearl and I chilled.

After a dip, Pearl was happy to cozy up on the towels.

Everyone eventually came back to headquarters. They all looked happy, but cold.

Okay, maybe Ivory doesn't look that happy either, but she was.

We had a good group.

I think he looks like Adam Sandler in that picture. Something about the face.

After we all reconvened, I talked the older ones into going on some slides. They were super fun. Robyn even flipped over at one point, but recovered on her own. (Maybe those swimming lessons weren't a waste of money.)

And after we had had enough water for one afternoon, we redressed and headed back into the park proper. (Did you think we were done? Or that there couldn't be more pictures. Oh, there are always MORE pictures.)

In the evening we were just trying to catch any rides that were on the to-do list. We went on Wicked. (Wow, I was a little light-headed after that one.)

The littles went on a couple more rides.

We stopped in to see a show. (Those performers must be exhausted by the end of one show, let alone after several during the day.)

June wanted to go on EVERYTHING. And she is tall enough, that she can go on EVERYTHING. We still limited her to rides that at least one adult was willing to go on. (Good thing it wasn't just me there. I like to pick and chose my torture these days.)

The Skyride was at the top of the list. Grandma was kind enough to walk the stroller to the other side of the park. Hello down there.

Tyler had the camera. Can you tell?

He has a pretty good view.

We did a lot of measuring at the park. Daisy was just tall enough for some rides, Ivory for others, and Robyn just passed the 46 inch mark. (She got measured everywhere.)

See, here is a good example of a ride that I avoid, yet Grandma was able to do. (Did I mention how great and helpful she was? Oh, and she found the best secret of the night. Go to Subway and buy a huge water cup for a quarter. It beats the bottled water sold for $3.)

And then the camera went away for the night. We still did plenty, but it was getting dark and we stashed our bag. But here is one more I like.

Trust me, I love Grandma and Pearl too, but they were still walking across the park when I took that.

Such a fun, fun day. We left late and everyone fell asleep on the way home. Even me. (Well, not Tyler, he was driving.) The girls are already asking when we can go again. I guess we will have to see if we bounce back...