Fright Fest

Our plan was to go to Fright Fest at the amusement park today. Ainsley’s Halloween costume is not ready yet, so she asked to borrow one of Marina’s. Marina’s costume is Harley Quinn – a villain in the Batman comic books. However, since Ainsley was going to be a princess, Marina decided to be one too. They went through many of the costumes in Marina’s closet before deciding. Ainsley chose Rapunzel and Marina wore her Mulan costume.

We arrived early before the park opened, so we had to wait near the main gate. At opening time, the national anthem played. Both girls stood at attention with their hands on their hearts. Then we went into the park.

We started off on the teacup ride which was enclosed and somewhat dark for Halloween. The lines were short in the park, so we quickly got through Ghost Blasters, Turn of the Century and the Sea Dragon.

Marina has always been afraid of the Mind Eraser roller coaster, but she has come close to riding it several times. Today, Ainsley convinced her to ride it. This line was also very short, so Marina didn’t have time to change her mind. She seemed a little nervous, but not terrified. They chose the seats in the back. I could hear her screaming during the ride – in a good way. Once it was over, Marina yelled, “That was awesome!”

Next we rode the Twister and Ferris Wheel. By then the girls were ready to go, so we rode the Carousel and went out for ice cream before taking Ainsley home.

Labor Day Fun

For the Labor Day holiday, Marina and I invited Ainsley to join us at the amusement park. Both girls were excited to go.

Fortunately we got an early start and got to the park without dealing with huge crowds. We started at the water park. Some of our favorite attractions were closed until afternoon, but we went over to the wave pool. Next we went down the four slides. Then we decided to try the new slide. The wait was long but it was worth it. It was like a water roller coaster.

By this time, the water park was crowded and we were ready for lunch. We all dressed and headed to the food court. The girls got bacon cheeseburgers which they declared were delicious.

After we ate, we went to the amusement park. The girls rode some of their favorite rides. By this point, the winds had picked up, so we went to an indoor ride. Apparently many others had the same idea, the line was huge.

Since Ainsley had to be home, we decided to head out. By then the winds had whipped up a heavy rainstorm. So we walked through the rain to the exit. By then we were soaked.

On the way home, we stopped for frozen yogurt. Then we dropped Ainsley off at her house and then went home. Marina was pretty worn out by then.

Jumping With Friends

Two weeks ago, we made for plans Marina's friend Alana to come over for a play date. Unfortunately, Alana got sick and we had to reschedule. So she came over today instead.

The girls had already decided they wanted to go to the trampoline park. Shortly after she arrived, we went to the trampoline park. The girls were anxious to jump on the giant trampoline first. After a short time there, they checked out some of the smaller trampolines. No one was in the basketball area, so they tried that out.

After a bit of basketball and a game of air hockey, they returned to the giant trampoline. There they met a young lady who they played with for a while.

They were both completely exhausted when their time was up. We stopped for a snack of frozen yogurt before heading back to our house.

At home, the girls watched a bit of a movie but spent more time talking. After a while we took Alana home. I expect they both will sleep well tonight after so much jumping.

Sunday Spring

Marina invited one of her friends from school over for a play date today but unfortunately her friend was sick and couldn't come. So to make up for it, I took her to the trampoline park for a little fun.

When we arrived this afternoon, the place was full. Quite a few birthday parties were scheduled for today. Marina didn't seem to mind at all, it meant she had more kids she could make friends with!

Marina had two hours of jumping time. She stayed on the giant trampoline the entire time. She met quite a few new "friends" and told me about them when she stopped for water breaks.

After her time was up, she wanted to try the hurricane simulator. As she was getting in, she found a little girl hanging around. Marina invited her to join her inside. They both seemed to enjoy the ride!

After the simulator was over, we went home. Marina was pretty tired by that point!

Celebrating Summer

To get off to a good start on our summer, I took Marina and her friend Ainsley to the water park today. Marina was so excited this morning that she got up early and was ready to leave before I was. When we picked up Ainsley I heard the same from her family.

When we arrived we found a lot of other people had the same idea. It took us a while just to get into the park. But once we were in, we headed right for the water. We started off on the tallest slide. Ainsley was a bit concerned about the height, but she loved the slide. We relaxed on the lazy river before heading to more slides.

We took a break for lunch which we all needed. Then we went into the wave pool. The girls spent the rest of the time playing in the waves. Once they were done there, we headed home. We got ice cream on the way to finish our celebration. Marina said, "Today was the best day ever!"

Trampoline Time

Marina has been wanting to go to the trampoline park near our house for quite a while. Since we didn't have prearranged plans for today, I decided it would be a good day to go. Marina was excited and decided to bring Saige.

It was pretty busy when we arrived but that didn't deter Marina. She headed for the largest trampoline and immediately started running and jumping. She tried jumping with Saige, but ultimately decided that was too difficult and had her sit with me.

As she so often does, Marina made several new "friends" as she played on the trampoline. As those girls left, she found a new group to hang around. It was fun to see the different ways the girls bounced around, ran and slid when they played together.

After a little over a hour, she was wiped out. So we headed out for lunch.

Saying Goodbye to Summer

It’s Labor Day weekend and since the water park at the amusement park closes Tuesday, I thought it would be fun for Marina to go one more time. I wasn’t really up to swimming, so I invited one of her friends to go with us. However, when we arrived both girls wanted me to playing the water with them, so I caved in and joined them.

We started by going down some of the slides. The girls we disappointed that the lazy river wasn’t open until later in the day, but they were happy to pass time in the wave pool.

We stopped for lunch and then went to the amusement park for a while. We rode the ferris wheel and then headed over the kids' rides. Marina will be too tall to ride these rides next year, so I told her to make sure she got them all in this year. So they rode most of them, taking advantage of the short lines.

After the kids' rides, the girls wanted to go to some of the other rides in the park. They were very excited for the Tilt A Whirl. The line was so short they rode four times in a row. The last two times they rode with a little girl who had to ride alone. They became fast friends.

 After a few more rides, we headed back to the water park. It had cooled down a bit, but the girls didn’t mind. They started at the wave pool, but the lines were so short that they got to go down one of their favorite slides twice before the water park closed. By then, we were all cold and tired. So, we headed home.

Birthday Amusement

Today is Michelle's birthday, so we asked her what she's like to do. Her choice was to go to the amusement and water park.

We started at the amusement park. Michelle had promised Marina she'd ride some of the rides that my stomach just won't allow me to go on. Some of them she loved and some she said she never wants to ride again.

Today was very hot, so after lunch we went to the water park. That made everyone happier. They started off in the wave pool and then went down a few slides.

No one really wanted to leave, but we had a dinner to attend later in the evening, so we all had to get ready.

Today We Play

Today was a hot one. It was the perfect day for a water park. My sister and I got together to take Marina and her cousins Michelle and Cameron to the local water park. Marina was very excited.

We ate lunch first before heading into the park. Once we arrived in the water park, the kids were ready to play. They started in the wave pool. Marina had gotten upset the last time we were in there. Today she was a bit more cautious. While she played in the wave pool, she didn't go in very deep.

Marina and Michelle wanted to try some of the slides, so we tried out several of them. In between we went back to the wave pool. When  we took the kids on the lazy river they went way ahead of us and we lost them. They were quite pleased with themselves.

We had planned to try out the dry side of the amusement park, but never quite got there. The kids really didn't want to leave, but the dark clouds gathering overhead let us know it was time to go.

On the way home we stopped for ice cream. We were all exhausted, but we'd had fun.

Saige Sleepover

The American Girl store had a premier screening of the new movie Saige Paints the Sky and Marina was dying to go. We invited her best friend Madison to join us and it turned into a sleepover. Last night, Madison came to our house, the girls played and watched the movie Brave together. They slept pretty well but they woke up before 6:00 am. I tried to convince them to go back to sleep, but they wouldn't. I knew they'd be tired later.

After breakfast, we headed out the local water park. Marina hadn't been there before, so she followed Madison's lead. Most of the slide held one or two riders, so the girls rode together and I rode behind them. Madison convinced Marina to try some that scared her a bit, but she loved them all.

After lunch the lines for the slides were longer, so the girls kept themselves to the kid's playground and the wave pool. While in the wave pool, Marina got hit in the face with water. The early morning wake up was showing. So we decided it was time to go. On the way home, we picked up so cold drinks and we relaxed for a while.

The girls got ready to go out. Since the main event of the evening was the American Girl movie, both girls brought their favorite dolls. Marina has two outfits for herself and the American Girl dolls. So she and Madison wore them for the evening. Madison brought her doll, Caroline, and Marina brought McKenna.

Before we checked out the activities at the American Girl store, we had dinner. The waitress gushed over how much they looked like their dolls. That pleased both of them. They both ate well despite telling me they weren't hungry.

Our next stop was the American Girl store. Marina and Madison both hammed it up on the red carpet and they tried out several of the Saige related activities. Two of the horses used n the movie Saige Paints the Sky were also there for the girls to meet. The horses were very tame and both girls were able to pet them.

We spent some time in the store during a sudden rainstorm. Both of them are dying to get the Saige doll. While we were in there, the women in the salon offered to fix up the hair of Caroline and McKenna before the show. They were thrilled.

Once Caroline and McKenna had their hair done, we headed for our seats to watch the movie. By then it was pretty late. While both girls watched the movie, it was clear that their early wake up and busy day were taking their toll. Marina was emotionally tired and Madison was spacing out. Somehow they managed to make it through the movie and we headed home. 

The Start of Summer

Marina finished third grade earlier this week. So to celebrate, we went to the amusement park. Naturally, Marina was very excited to go.

When we arrived, she wanted to start with the kids' rides. I was worried she might be too tall for them, be we found out right away she's still half an inch under the maximum height. So she happily rode many of her favorites. Of course, she also wanted her face painted while we were there. She got a very pretty rainbow around her eyes.
We split a turkey leg for lunch and then we went out into the rest of the park, Marina paid attention to the height requirements at each ride. Since she is now tall enough to ride them herself, that is what she wants to do. She really wanted to ride the Spider which makes me feel sick, so she rode it herself.

It was a warmer day than we had expected and Marina complained she was sweating, so we went on one of the water rides. We got drenched on it, but Marina loved it so much we rode a second time. I didn't think it was possible for us to get wetter than we had on the first ride, I was wrong! We were both soaked, so we found a sunny spot and shared a funnel cake while we dried off.

She also wanted to try other rides she'd never seen before.We went on the Tower of Doom, which she's never seemed interested in before. It was a crazy drop, but she liked it. She draws the line at rides that go upside down. She said she'll never do those. (We'll see about that!)

We went on the Ghost Blasters many times, it's one of Marina's favorites. However, since I usually have a higher score than she does, she started asking if she could ride with someone else. So she was thrileld on our last ride to outscore me. (I didn't do it on purpose - honest!)

On the way out, we rode most of her favorites and finished it all off with a carousel ride. We'd had a fun day to start off her summer vacation.

Bouncy Birthday

Marina was invited to our neighbor Madi’s birthday party today. It was at the trampoline park near our house. Marina has been wanting to go back there for some time, so she’s been looking forward to the party. When we arrived, Madi was already on the large trampoline. Marina was happy to show me her cartwheels and somersaults that she has been working on with her friends at school. The only time she stopped playing was when it was time for cake and presents. Then she went right back to the giant trampoline. She didn’t want to leave when the party was over, but I could tell she was pretty worn out by all of it!

Playing at the Amusement Park

It's hard to believe, but Marina and I didn't make it to the amusement park until this weekend. She's been wanting to go, but we've had such a busy summer that we couldn't fit it in. Today was such a beautiful day that if felt like the beginning of summer.

When we arrived at the park, I could see this trip would be different from last year. Our first stop was the observation tower. Marina had never expressed any interest in that before. We got a great view of the entire park and pointed out the rides we wanted to go on before going back down and getting on them.

We started off in the Kid's section.  Two rides had been added since last year, so Marina tried those first. She really liked them. She spent time on her old favorites too - bumper cars, airplanes and, of course, the roller coaster. I noticed that Marina is only two inches shorter than the maximum height for the kid's rides. There's a good chance she will be too tall to ride them next year!

On our way to the ball play area, we saw the face painting station. As usual, Marina wanted that. She asked for a rainbow butterfly. The young woman who designed it was an art student. She was quite detailed and added a ton of glitter. Marina loved that!

We get a turkey leg to split for lunch. Then we headed into the rest of the park. We went on some of Marina's favorites as well as some new one. I told Marina that I can't do a lot of spinning anyone, so she was quite concerned that I didn't get sick. Still, she convinced me to get on the Spider - one that made me sick as a kid! I did all right, Marina loved it!

We went on the river raft ride that we loved last year. We got completely drenched. Apparently some additional water spouts had been added. Marina was not happy. Then it was my turn to challenge Marina. We had never tried Ghost Blasters, a sort of haunted house with guns to shoot at the ghosts. She was a bit nervous, but agreed to try it. Once it was over, she had more point than I did and she said, "Let's do it again!" We ended up riding it five times today!

We headed back to the kids section. The lines were very short so Marina got the chance to ride everything she wanted many times. She often found a new friend to ride each one with. By this time, it was getting dark. So we made our way to the exit. Before we left we took a ride on the carousel. We were both pretty tired after all that fun.

Springing Forward

The time change last night didn't sit well with Marina. I had a tough time waking her up in time for church. She was fine in church and afterwards she played on the playground for a while.

Ever since we went to the trampoline park a week and a half ago, Marina has been begging to go back. So I thought we'd go back and help her get to bed on time tonight. We invited her friend Sabrina to go with us. Sabrina brought two friends as well. They all got along very well while they played. We also ran into other kids we knew once we were there.

Marina and the girls jumped and ran up the ramps, but ultimately the other girls wanted to try the Dodge Ball. Surprisingly, Marina went with them. She did really well. I was impressed with her for trying something new.

We stayed until Marina was completely wiped out. She's been pretty quiet at home all night!

Jumping for Joy

Recently, a trampoline park opened near our home. Marina and I decided to give it a try today. Once we walked in the door, Marina was ready to get started. As soon as I had purchased her play time, she attacked the giant trampoline in the middle of the park. At first she was happy to just bounce along the lanes, but after a while she was running up the slopes and hanging out there. She made several friends while we were there. After her two hours were up, I could tell she was exhausted but she didn't want to leave. So, I bribed her with the promise of ice cream.

Halloween Amusement

Marina and I got one more use out of our amusement park season passes. The park is open through Halloween. Marina wore her costume and we went. We started on the Carousel. Then we had to walk through a mock graveyard to get to the rest of the park. Marina was a bit uneasy about it, but she did it. We went to the kid's area. A trick or treat trail was set up through there. She didn't get much candy, but it made her happy. We saw a special Halloween show. She rode some of the rides – including the kid's roller coaster, her favorite. We went out into the rest of the park. We rode the Sea Dragon and Tilt-A-Whirl, then we stopped for a funnel cake for a snack. We went back to the kid's area where Marina rode more rides. We rode the Ferris Wheel before heading home. Such a beautiful day in October!