Each year Bret’s company has the park to themselves. This was our 3rd year to take the quads and it just gets better every time! This year it was Bret, Bethany, myself and the quads and let me tell you it was ENTERTAINING! We left Blade with a sitter (Thanks Amy!) but look forward to him joining the fun in the future! This was also our first year to go stroller/choochoo-less – HUGE DEAL! Brody and Kylee still tire out quicker than most kids their age so we debated a lot on whether or not they were ready. We ended up bringing the 2 car choo choo to keep in the van just in case but we didn’t need it!
We had talked for a few days about going and the quads were super excited. Kylee distinctly remembers the characters from the past 2 visits in 2010 and 2011 (we didn’t go last year due to Blade just being born. This girl remembers EVERYTHING!). She talks often about both instances that freaked her out. Here’s a quick look…
This year she was determined to be brave. She told me for days leading up to our trip that she was not gonna be scared and that she even wanted to take a picture with Tweety Bird like I did with Korbin a couple years back. The moment we walked into the park, she started to tear up out of fear she was going to “see something”. Bless her heart! She tried so hard and just the THOUGHT of the characters being there terrified her!
Once inside we had to wait by another gate before entering the rides (for those of you who don’t know, I have a phobia of being late therefore we are early everywhere we go.). Brody, Baxlyn and Korbin stood looking through the fence but our “nervous” girl couldn’t bear to!
Once we entered luckily Kylee perked up and her fear faded as she was distracted by all of the fun rides! First up was the semi-truck choo choo ride. They all loved it!
Their next ride was this “Cliff Hanger” type ride that they went up and down reaching maybe 20 feet. It was so cute as they all excitedly hopped right on not having a clue what they were actually doing. Here are the all around smiles as they first got started…
As the ride lifted and ‘dropped’ Brody & Kylee’s faces went from smiling to slightly terrified, back to a nervous smile and then another terrified took. Bret, Bethany and I were cracking up as we watched from below…
As they rode I kept snapping pics as I was able to. After looking back through them, this was my favorite. The look on Brody’s face cracks me up while Kylee looks down as if she’s praying to land on planet Earth once again sooner than later! Hard to see but Korbin and Baxlyn were loving every minute of this adventure!
Next up were the speedy swings that terrified me those other years. It’s so fun to see them react differently to different things at different ages. Their first time on these swings they LOVED it (2010) and the second time the boys were TERRIFIED (2011). This year they were all back to enjoying it!
Here’s Brody giving us his best “thumbs up” before zooming away on his airplane…
While just as excited to take on this ride, our little Broman didn’t come out with a smile. These were spinning teacups. Ya know, you get in, they spin slowly AND you can twist the wheel in the middle causing them to reallllly spin? So the employee in charge of this ride wasn’t the quickest so the quads were literally spinning a good 3-4 minutes before the ride even started. After a few good minutes of flying in circles the ride began to rotate and that’s when the real fun began. Bethany, Bret and I watched as they spun and occasionally we couldn’t see the head of one of the kids only to see them finally pop back up, thank God they were buckled. At one point Brody started not looking so hot. We called his name as he passed us and as much as he tried he couldn’t focus on ANYTHING. He went pale and had a very confused look on his face, I just KNEW he was gonna spew at any minute. The lady stopped the ride and I rushed to retrieve our Brody. Poor dude couldn’t stand or hardly talk but after a short break he was stable and good to go again!
This next ride was, believe it or not, in the kiddie park. According to the sign and measurements at the entrance the quads were “tall enough” to ride. There was room on the rollercoaster for 2 more people, Korbin and Baxlyn had no fear so there they went. I didn’t think much of it because again, they were “tall enough”. Once the rollercoaster zoomed off my heart sunk as I could BARELY see their little heads sticking out of the very back seats. I looked at Bret and said “OH MY GOSH, they are tiny! What have we done?!” With my jaw still on the ground as I was trying to comprehend HOW I could have put my little bitty peeps alone on this huge ride, Korbin and B zipped right by us laughing as much as the hard wind in their faces would allow them – they LOVED it! Brody and Kylee rode along the second round (with Daddy and I) and loved it as well!
L-R Brody, Korbin, Baxlyn & Kylee Mae
Our little family waiting for the train! Unfortunately we failed to ALL take a picture together, gah!
My kids are notorious for picking flowers at any place any time. Hotels, restaurants, weddings, you name it, they’ll pick flowers on display.
We figured Brody, Baxlyn, Kylee & Korbin would be tall enough to ride some “real” rides this year but I figured they would be scared of some if not most. Boy was I wrong, they were excited to ride anything we were willing to put them on. I was really surprised at just how much they were allowed to ride. Here we have them lined up on the BIG swings. Flying high in the air watching my little people sway back and forth through the air in front of me terrified me to say the least. Could we get a five point harness on these things?!? GAH! I was happy to have all of their little feet back on the ground once it was over.
Like I said, they were happy to ride anything we put them on. Here’s one ride they were not tall enough to ride which made Korbin mad. It’s called the Sky Screamer and takes you 400 feet up in the air to swing. Bret and Bethany wanted to ride it so I stayed with the quads to watch from below. Unlike last time they didn’t cry frantically until Daddy returned! (If you haven’t seen that post, check it out here, it’s hilarious!)
Hellloooooo Daddy and Bethieeee!!!!
Here’s a fun shot of Korbin on a random bench. Top pic is 2010 and bottom is 2013. We may try to recreate this every year for fun ;)
I think this was the Mine Train. This is another one that I wish had a 5 point harness. No way would I let them ride this again without sitting next to an adult. Their little hands barely stuck out of the top of the ride. Bret is in front of Korbin and B with one of the others while Bethany is behind me with the 4th quad. I literally rode the entire ride with my hands reached forward to hold their heads keeping them from smacking together. Ridiculous!
Here’s the Mini Mine Train where Bethany did the head holding from behind. Next year, Uncle Chris will have to join so we can ride each kid with an adult! Love this one of Korbin and B enjoying being riding buddies!
At this point the day is going GREAT! They’re all holding up well, nobody is whining, we took out a loan to pay for a nice quiet lunch and we’re just cruising along when it happened……..
This picture was taken after Kylee, from a good 20 feet back from where this picture was taken, laid eyes on Pepe Le Pew through the lattice on the right. Poor girl lost it and ran frantically to the protection of her Daddy’s arms. He had to have been 100 feet away and it took us a while to realize what she had seen, poor girl!
Daddy took Kylee far far away (Brody played it safe and went with them) while Korbin, Baxlyn and I posed for a picture!
Silly B and I pretending we were afraid of the Hot Air Balloon ride…
We ended up staying about 5 hours, much longer than I thought they would last! After enjoying a funnel cake (ok, two funnel cakes) we headed out and it wasn’t 5 minutes that we were in the car before they were all passed out in the back! It was so so much fun and I look forward to going back each year!
Stay tuned – our first, less successful, trip to the Circus!!
In addition to climbing he still LOVES to empty the cabinets in the kitchen – one of these days we’ll break down and baby proof them. Although he still takes a few steps here and there, he’s not full blown walking yet, and I’m ok with that! He loves baths, the trashcan and will still make a quick dash to play in the toilet given the opportunity. He currently wears mostly 18mos clothing and a size 2-3 shoe! He still naps twice a day and gets a good 11hours in at night before I have to wake him to get the quads to school.
