Lagoon 2010

While we were in the area, and because we didn't make it to Disneyland like I'd hoped we would this year (thanks to kids and their unexpected costs), we made a trip to Lagoon. The last time we were here was when Rebekah looked a lot like Sarah...four years ago. That was in our favor, because it was a new experience for practically everyone. And I'm surprised at how much the place change in four years. (I worked at Lagoon the summer I was 16...it has really changed a lot since then...two decades!)

We decided to arrive in the late afternoon and skip the heat of the day. You can see on the kids' faces, they were full of energy and ready to have fun.

I took a picture at the entrance hoping to get a before and after shot. It almost happened.

When we got there around 4 PM or so, we went straight to Pioneer Village and got in line for the log flume. We thought it best to get wet right off and have time to dry again. It was a humid day and the clouds were looking ominous. While waiting in line, the ride broke down (figures, right?). Several people decided they couldn't wait and left the line. This was fortunate for us, because before they could even get all the way through the maze of waiting people, the ride started up again and we saved quite a bit of time in line.

Leah wasn't sure she was up for the adventure of the log flume. Luckily, we know a little bit about her and made her follow through. She doesn't look too sure here. And she was muttering concerns all the way up. After the splash-down, she was converted and wanted to get back in line.


Here are the boys in the gondola ahead of us. I think they were feeling pretty 'big' in a seat of their own!

By the time we got off, it was raining. The line for the log flume was almost down to nothing, so it would have been easy to go again, but we had limited time and a lot to do. And the best thing to do when you're wet is get wet a little more.

The line for Rattlesnake Rapids was the shortest I've ever seen it. I went with the four oldest kids. Chad caught us going under the waterfall. Did I say a little more wet? I'm not sure any part of me was dry. Maybe my ear canals. I love that Nathan appears to be trying to avoid the water.

We got off and convinced Chad to go. By now, there was no line. They were sending empty gondolas through. I stayed with Joseph and at one point, we had to take shelter from the rain. (I was wet, but there was no need for him to have a rain-soaked diaper.)

Once again, there was no avoiding the flood.

From there, we split up. Chad went to the car for our picnic dinner and we hit some rides. The girls look half-drowned!
After dinner, we started a valiant effort to get to as many rides as possible. I was worried that Daniel would be frustrated that he couldn't ride some of the "cool" rides, because of height requirements. He pleasantly surprised me by saying he was glad he was short because he wouldn't be able to ride the rides we were riding!

Here we are on a kiddie ride similar to the Tidal Wave. It didn't go as high. Even Joseph got to ride it.

Chad and Nathan

Rebekah and Daniel -way in the back.
The kids rode some dizzying swings. (Rebekah is that blue shirt behind Daniel.)

This OdySea ride was a fun surprise. I'd never seen it before and was NOT prepared for more water. We were just getting dry! But it was a lot of fun and I was impressed by the catchy song/chant that went along with it. The kids really liked this one.

Thanks to the weather, the huge Ferris wheel was easy to get on (normally the lines are really long). Leah and Joseph were really impressed with the height we rose to.

It was nice to enjoy something slow for a bit.


And the opposite of slow is bumper cars! Rebekah is NOT ready for a driver's license.

This time, Joseph got to 'drive.'

Eventually, it got late enough that the park was closing and we had to pick one last thing to do. Chad took the 4 oldest back to OdySea and Joseph and I found something just for him (I didn't want to get wet anymore). We had to wait for the Carousel ride for a long time because someone before had apparently enjoyed the spinning car a little too much and the employees were in the middle of a clean up and detox of the area. They were very thorough, I must say!

Joseph chose his animal and we enjoyed our last ride at Lagoon.
Our plan was to meet up at the water fountain at the entrance to the park. I thought we'd probably be last because of the time we'd spent waiting for our ride. I saw Chad among the few folks standing around the fountain. There were a couple of boys in there smack dab in the middle of the water, getting pounded in the face with shooting water. I imagined someone was going to have pretty soggy kids on the way home!

When I got closer, I saw that it was Daniel and Nathan. Of course. Why wouldn't it be?

They were really enjoying themselves and other people were really enjoying watching them.

Leah and Rebekah were also there...just not in the center.

It was the last water display of the night and the kid there (you know...the one who stands by and tells you not to run?) offered to turn the water on around us so we could get a picture. I had to delete a couple of pictures to make room for one more. It's a great picture, too bad he wasn't a little better at taking pictures.

And so that had to be our "after" picture. And all the efforts to leave the park dry were undone. The kids rode home in soggy underwear and blankets.

As we got in the van, Daniel said, "When we come back, I'll be 14!" Yes, Daniel, you will. Keep thinking that and all will be well.

Free Day....BLECH!

A little background:

Last year I took the kids to This Is The Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City. They had a lot of fun and I decided to pay a little more to get the year membership so we could come back again with Daddy and have more fun. I fully expected to be in the area enough to get our money's worth.

I didn't think that most of the times we would be in the area were winter/spring holidays. The park isn't really open then. At least the buildings aren't. That's most of the park. We did get to take a freezing train tour of the park during our Thanksgiving visit.

So, with Chad starting a new job (and losing most of his freedom to take off when he wants) and me getting less likely to embark on any kind of adventure, we decided to challenge the weather and head down there yesterday. We were going just for the park. We left the house a bit after 8 AM. Joseph not only doesn't like Nursery! He's not a big fan of the road, either. We had to stop at the mall in Layton to let kids out and get some lunch. And I needed a break from those insane, death-defying Utah drivers.

What is it with these people? Are they all late for something? Do they think they are the most important vehicle on the road? Do they think those speed limit signs are only friendly suggestions? Utah could really get a boost to their revenue if they'd get more patrol cars out on the highway. I didn't see a single person pulled over the entire trip. I'm surprised I didn't see any accidents either. The rain was coming down pretty heavy in some parts.

ANYWAY...it took us 4 hours to get to the park. We were hoping the rain would have worn itself out by the time we got there. It actually looked like it was getting worse. And then we saw the cars. An entire parking lot FULL of cars. Apparently, it was "Huntsman Day". Admission was free. FREE??? We just drove down from Idaho to get our money's worth out of our membership and it's a FREE day? Someone please shoot me. Hello This Is The Place!...I was just on your website last night and it didn't say a word about being a free day.

I was counting on being able to duck into a building and getting a nice little story from someone in pioneer costume every time the rain got too bad. How the stinkin' heck am I supposed to duck into a building that's already got 75 people crammed into it? And with 5 kids? We parked the van and walked to the first building. I murmured and grumbled the whole way. There is no electricity in the building. It's cloudy outside. It's dark inside. There are 60 people just on the first floor. Oh, and they're giving out free ice cream. The end of the line is in the rain, which is coming down harder by the minute.

The only way to get to the rest of the park was by the little train...the line is long and standing in the rain. Never mind getting someone to shoot me. Give me the gun. I'll do it myself.

We stood in the gazebo and deliberated. This originally brilliant plan to do something fun with the kids has been destroyed. (Oh yeah...Chad hung my jacket up in the closet before we left the house, but loaded everyone else's up in the van. I only had my sweater on. No umbrella because the kids won't leave it alone and now we can't find it. Yes, we only have one. Well, maybe we have none.) Eventually, we came up with an alternative and told the kids we were headed back to the van. We lasted about 10 minutes.

Normally, I have lots of complaints about my kids' attitudes. This time, I have only praise. No one grumbled that we were leaving. Maybe they saw what millions of other people couldn't see...It was insane to be there! We decided to drive a little further to an aquarium in Sandy. This was one of our possible museums to visit during Spring Break. Luckily, we hadn't gone and thought this would be a good 2nd choice. (Except that the park would have been free and the aquarium cost us $40 to get in and $12 to get out...we had to get some toys to keep Joseph from screaming the whole way home.)

The kids did have fun, though. Here are some pictures from that. There was a rain crowd at the aquarium, too, but these were the more wealthy people.


The kids are looking at some cayman (think alligator) and turtles in here. Well, Leah is looking at me. I can be a little alligator-like sometimes. ;)

They were trying to touch the sting rays. I wonder how many kids fall into this pool. The fish are farther down than they look!

Daniel was so good to keep track of Joseph. He's got a firm hold of him here. It wasn't always so easy.

There were some really little fish down there. I got 5 kids in the shot, but that one up there in a white shirt isn't mine. Still a cute picture, though.

Chad did most of the work. Here he is holding Joseph. I did a lot of sitting. I traveled between a lot of benches!

Joseph saw something in there he liked!

From there, we headed home. Originally, we planned on just driving straight back home. But the day had been rather irregular and we were starting from farther away, so we called my mom and told her we were in the area and would be crashing her house. She was kind enough to feed us dinner. I was grateful for that. My head was aching, my feet were sore, and I was really wanting a nap.

We stopped just north of Ogden for gas. I bought a huge package of licorice and a movie for the ride home. We don't usually buy movies. I was desperate for as quiet a ride home as possible. It mostly worked. Joseph wasn't especially captivated by Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.

We got home just after 9 PM. Thirteen hours away from home. The kids fell asleep quickly and slept late (even so, they were all up by 8:15 AM...late is relative for some families). I couldn't believe our luck in hitting that free day. I'm glad they enjoyed the aquarium. We aren't going anywhere far for a LONG time!

Vacation Recovery

We went down to visit cousins on Monday. By the time we arrived at our final destination, the kids had been traveling about 6 hours. You can imagine how glad we ALL were to get out of the van. Luckily, there had been a little break while Chad helped his sister and brother-in-law move a few things from one apartment to the other. The kids got to get a good stretch then. Bedtime was a bit delayed, but not too terribly long.

The next night was the killer. We rode the Heber Creeper to celebrate Pioneer Day. The train left at 8 pm and returned about 10:30. It was a fun trip, but a long time for kids to be contained on a train. We got to eat pizza and drink lemonade until we were sick, so at least we had a diversion. I was near to passing out on the ride back from Heber because I was so tired. Leah was nowhere near passing out. She responded to extreme fatigue by screaming. Real screams. She was complaining that she wanted out of her seat before we'd fully accelerated to highway speeds. I wanted to strangle her. I still recall the blessed moment she finally fell asleep. We drove home the next afternoon and the kids were surprisingly well behaved. Maybe they saw the "light at the end of the tunnel."

The past two mornings, the kids have been sleeping longer than usual. I have enjoyed that!

I was able to spend some time at the Family History Library with my dad while we searched for information on his grandfather. This man has been eluding us for YEARS and all it took was a trip to the International Floor to look into some Swedish records. We now have several more names. It was exciting to make some progress! Now I wish that I lived closer. I would like to spend a few long days scanning microfilmed records.

Here are a couple more digital scrapbook pages. I'm trying to not get too involved in these since they can easily take a couple of hours from my day. There are a few other things that I should be doing.

I am REALLY looking forward to school starting. Nineteen days left. How does one little boy create so much havoc?