We kicked off summer with a chilly trip to Wild Waves, so I guess it was fitting to book end our summer with another trip. We planned to earn tickets this time around through our library's summer reading program, but apparently the prize of Wild Wave tickets was so alluring that they ran out within 48 hours. Drat! Thankfully, our generous friends have season tickets with a couple guest passes each and invited us to join them again.
The forecast again called for cloudy, cool conditions, and we were prepared for last-week-of-summer crowds, but we were pleasantly surprised with beautiful weather and minimal crowding. Hurrah! To minimize our encounters with crowds, we spent the morning at the water park and the afternoon on the rides.
Aubree led the crowd of big kids over to the water slides. That left Graham and Nellie at the wave pool with Stephanie and me. Nellie tired of the water quickly and wanted to get warm under the towels.
Graham didn't like being left behind but managed to amuse himself going back and forth between the wave pool and the hot tub.
When the big kids had their fill of the water slides, we all ventured over to check out the water play area. This was new to us and quickly became a fan favorite.
It's perfect for big kids and little kids alike.
We had lunch at our vans, changed into dry clothes, and spent the afternoon riding rides. Nellie was more adventurous this time around and actually liked riding the Carousel.
Aubree has decided she is not a thrill seeker. She wasn't interested in trying or re-trying any of the roller coasters. Mostly she just wanted to go on the bumper cars. Graham was just under the height requirement to join the other kids. He was super disappointed, but when I tried to catch a picture of his sadness, he lit right up and gave me the biggest smile. He's going through some serious contrary kid-ness these days! It's like every day is opposite day. He really thinks he's funny.
Don't feel too sorry for Nellie and Graham. While the big kids rode and re-rode the bumper cars (Thane was thrilled to be just tall enough to be allowed to be a driver), I took N and G over to an airplane ride. Since there were no lines, they got to ride three times straight.
Still, Nellie's favorite ride was the Enchanted Railroad. All day long she called it, "Nellie's train."
We all went on the Scrambler ride. Nellie was next to me. As soon as the ride started it threw her into my side where she promptly buried her face and refused to look up until it was over. "I did not like that!" she exclaimed when it was over. Graham, however, loved all the rides. "The scarier, the faster, the wilder, the better," seemed to be his motto. Now we know who will be riding the roller coasters with Grandma Winters when we visit her next year!
It ended up being such a beautiful, perfectly fun day. We love the Dance family! They were gone for a lot of the summer, but we tried to make up for lost time when they got back. When we get together, the kids make consistent and predictable activity choices. Aubree and Kenzie (and any other visiting cousins) always gravitate to the kitchen to cook up something.
Sometimes they follow a recipe, other times they prefer to be creative with random ingredients. Regardless, none of the other kids complain when they call them in to be taste testers.
Thane and Coleman always play games. Monopoly is their favorite. Bryce and Jordan love to build things. The material of choice this summer has been K'nex. Graham often ropes patient Jackson into playing with him, while Nellie roams around from group to group making extra messes.
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