It's Not Quite As Much Fun As You Would Imagine, at least not yet

Shawn won a full-day ticket to Lagoon earlier this year. So with the year and season wrapping up we thought it might be fun to take the whole family to Lagoon for a few hours and enjoy a fall day at Lagoon without heat, bugs, and crowds. Sounds great right.... we thought so. Apparently Jace and Brooklyn had different ideas!

They were giddy in the back seat as we arrived at the park, pointing to all of the rides visible from the parking lot. They couldn't wait to get out of the car and were squealing when we got Cole out of the car first. They were bouncing in their seats all the way back to the kiddy rides. We got on the Kontiki boat ride first. And the squealing turned to shrieking and clutching, except for Cole was smiling and laughing the whole time.

see how calm and excited they look ... it's about to come to an end.

Crying as they got off the ride they shrank away from every ride, even the most quiet or small. Instead we sat outside the kiddie rides watching others get on and off. Each time we picked them up to walk towards the ride, the shrieking and clutching got worse. So Cole and Teri decided to give the Merry-Go-Round a spin .... one of our favorites. Cole loved it. The lines were small enough we could get on, off and right back on for the next ride -- which we did for about 3 times. Then Shawn and cole rode a few times. The kids sat, smiled and waved each time Cole and Teri or Shawn came around. Finally, Jace gave in and went on with Shawn. They sat in a chair and he couldn't decide what he thought so he was weepy about 1/3 of the short ride. But then he rode with Teri on a horse this time and did great. Brooklyn wouldn't have any part of it at all!!!

After the merry-go-round, we headed over to the train. Trains are BIG in our house. And I never realized how many trains, train pictures, or train structures are just surrounding our home and freeways.

so much to check and point out

now starting to warm up to the idea of the train

cole's curious about the new noises too

finally, all is well (well while we're on the train that is)

The first time they were a little nervous, getting acquainted with everything around them.

here we go again ...'is that new stuff or stuff we just weren't paying attention to -- hard to know'

getting cole into it ... as if he needs any encouragement - he loves it all

The second time they couldn't wait to be on the train -- so much so we had a mini-meltdown when it came time to get off a find another ride.

before the train whistle....

after the train whistle!

yeah, Jace thinks his sister is a nut too!

checking out the animals (as the train runs through the small Lagoon zoo)

ALSO checking out the animals (as the train runs through the small Lagoon zoo)

We head back over to the kiddie rides to give them a try. They both expressed a willingness to ride the kiddie cars and were eager to stand in line and get in the car .... until they were actually in the car (as you can see).

he even asked to go a a second ride later in the day, but same results (although Brooklyn was more relaxed the 2nd time around)

So once off we headed over to try other rides and walk around and 'look' at everyone else. They were mostly content watching everyone else but would occasionally try and run off, which was not part of the program.

Shawn talked Jace into going on another ride (Odyssey) with fish (another big hit at our house) and water. Brooklyn was freaking out when the rides splashed a little bit of water on her as they went by, so she hung out with Teri. I think Jace was having second thoughts once they got on but Shawn tried to distract him with the gizmos and dials in the car. He was mostly smiling when they got off the ride -- a little unsure whether they had a good time or not. We did a little more walking through the kiddie halloween mazes -- which they seemed to be enjoying.

what would you do if someone handed you their teeth ... 'no thank you strange lady, you may need these'

watching her brother for cues -- sometimes a good thing, sometimes not so much (especially around meal time)

We speculated that kids might do better on rides we could go on with them so we walked over and Brooklyn and Teri took a spin on the Tilt-o-Whirl. Brooklyn was laughing and bouncing with Teri in line and seemed to be more excited .... until they both got on the ride and the attendant made Brooklyn sit on the seat (vs Teri's lap) -- major melt down.

No tilt-a-whirl, not yet at least!

We elected to get a little something to drink and eat and distract them from the rides -- they were all for it!! We walked around a bit more and watched the other families enjoying (or not) the rides and water and then headed out for a little dinner.

Check out those tired eyes - tired, but hungry eyes

They enjoyed the pizza (again) and tuckered out by the day soon fell asleep soon after we got home and finished our evening routines of diapers, pajamas, brushing teeth and washing faces. And we collapsed realizing how exhausted we were.