We didn't realize this, but we have a fairly large amusement park just an hour from our house. How awesome is that? So, we packed the kiddos up and headed to Wicksteed Park for a fun day filled with sunshine and roller coasters!
The best part about this park? We arrived right at lunchtime and went straight to the restaurant that sold beer. Baked potatoes and Carlsberg. We felt so English! ;)
Now it's time for some rides!
First, Colin took Lara on the pirate ship thing that's basically a big swing. Lara was looking forward to it, but once it started going, she lost her mind. She cried and freaked out the whole time and absolutely refused to look up. Once the ride stopped she and Colin started walking towards me and I could tell she was really freaked out. So I knelt down and held my arms out and she came running to me and just broke down. Poor thing. I rubbed her back for a minute and told her it was going to be ok and that she needed to stop crying because there were even bigger rides out there just waiting for her. I am evil.
We then took a turn on the merry go round to calm Lara down a bit and bring her heart rate down to a healthy pace. You can even tell she's just gotten finished crying. Norah is yelling about the next ride she already has her heart set on.
Me and Mia sharing a horsie. Mia's only disappointment on this particular ride was that the carousel horses weren't going to take off on their own into a chalk picture a la Mary Poppins. Such a cutie. I then asked her if she wanted to go on the pirate boat swing and she ran away from me. Smart girl. ;)
Colin was brave enough to take the Doots (her nickname used to be Noodle, but it has evolved to "the Doots" now, so that's how she'll be referred to from now on) on the motorcycles. He was all smiles and sunshine for the first half of it.
Then I think as soon as the Doots realized that she actually had control over this thing on wheels, she just stopped caring and started running into the barriers. Colin loved it, as you can see here.
I think he is secretly counting the days til her driving test because he's just that excited.
After seeing this, I also now know why my Dad screamed his ever-living head off when he taught me how to drive. It can be scary putting your life into your child's hands.
In my defense, however, the man did put me at the bottom of a hill and made me drive up it on my very first go. So, yeah, what was he expecting!?!? ;) It worked, though. I can drive any stickshift. And if my dad's doctor gives him the OK in 15 years, I'm gonna have him teach my girls how to drive stick so I can laugh my butt off and take lots and lots of photos of them crying. ;)
My experience with our kids "driving" was a bit more controlled. God bless the person who thought of these kinds of rides.
Next, just because we really had not laughed at our kids enough that day, we put Lara and Mia on a canoe/kayak thing and let them go. It was absolutely hilarious. And some of those kids were taking this ride very seriously. So, when Lara and Mia would bump into them, they'd push our kiddos as far away from them as they could with their paddles. And then they'd glare. Too funny. At one point, these 2 were paddling backwards to get out of a corner because they didn't know how to turn around. hahahahahahaThey had such a good time, though, and we practically had to drag them away from the boats.
We put all 3 of them on this coaster because the Doots was tall enough. They had such a good time and we enjoyed every single one of those screams because they had nothing to do with not sharing toys or kicking each other or the Nintendo DS. Ah, bliss.
I absolutely hate log rides. I have issues with amusement park water...I know. I'm a freak. But I think it is some of the nastiest stuff on Earth and the thought of getting doused in it....shudder...So I was a total stick-in-the-mud/party pooper and I refused to go on the ride. But, if I had, then we wouldn't have this gem of a shot. Look at Mia.
I don't think she went on too many rides after this. ;)
