Great America

In our most extravagant play date ever, the playgroup played hooky, skipped school and work to go to Great America. On a tip from Krista, Monday was a great day to go, a bit less crowded than Fridays. (And who should we run into at the Nick Cafe but Krista and the girls!) IF we had a wait in a ride, it was 5 minutes max, but most we just walked right up and rode the ride without waiting. Monday was a good day to go.

We had a great day and we don't take it for granted. As usual, we threw all notions of a nap schedule out the window. It's nice to know that at this age, Tobey can go with or without a nap and could survive on a short one if he had to. Amazingly, he didn't nap all day and wasn't super whiny! He was showing signs of fatigue after dinner though. Eli was quite the trooper. One minute he was bouncing in his stroller, the next, he was completely konked out in it and slept for his minimum 40 minute nap. He also did well the rest of the day and expectedly fell asleep in the car after dinner.

After dinner? Yep. We never expected to last 'til dinner at the park and even afterwards, we all went over to Cindy's parents house for a barbecue. Of course it helped that Mark did the shopping in the morning during Ethan's nap and that Mark & Cindy prepped all of dinner since they went home early anyway. And of course Lu mansion had multiple luxury bathrooms to choose from so I even showered and gave the kids a bath before dinner. It really was like living in a hotel.

The park itself was great. Cindy and Angela both said they didn't remember this much being geared towards younger kids. Then again, when you're young and single, when would you ever pay attention to whether there was a "Kidzville"? Tobey and Eli did great on all the rides we put them on and we were glad that Tobey was excited about trying new rides. They were both generally agreeable to whatever we did, whether it was the rain maze 4 times in a row or saying we had to wait for the water play until after lunch. There was so much going on, just about any option sounded fun.

Eli took his first solo ride on the snail ride. But I only have a picture of him on it together with Tobey. Tobey liked the swing, roller coaster and rain maze and even tried his hand at the bumper cars.

Ah yes, the bumper cars. Seeing him on it brought back some stressful memories as a kid. I remember being in the bumper cars and I could never control it correctly. I knew on the surface the instructions about turning all the way meant it would go backwards, but I could never get it to work and therefore was always either stuck in the corner on the side by myself. I clearly remember one bumper car session where for some reason everyone was quite agreeable and no one was really bumping into each other, they were actually making laps around the middle island. Everyone except me who was stuck in the corner. Add on some obnoxious announcer who would say over the PA, "Green car, turn all the way to the left!" and that is enough to send any pre-teen into extreme embarassment. And because this was usually at an amusement park with lots of rides and a line, I usually got one shot in 2 years to master the bumper car, which means I never did. I couldn't watch Tobey do the bumper cars because I couldn't bear seeing him potentially get stuck facing the corner with everyone shouting instructions at him. He did fine, meaning that I have no idea how he actually drove, but he seems to have come away from the experience untraumatized, which is all I ask for this first bumper car experience.

The whole day went great, not only because of the kids, but because of the friends. Nothing like going on a day trip with friends who are of the same travel style as you. No naps for the kids? No problem. Spend a few extra bucks for overpriced food? No problem. Trade babysitting so each couple could go on an adult ride? No problem. Stay an extra hour because we adults wanted to ride Top Gun? No problem. Extra treat for kids so they will wait quietly for parents to return? No problem. Want to split up to do different things? No problem. Want to stay together all day? No problem. I've heard of trips together where some people want everyone to do everything together all the time, where someone is too cheap to spring for an admission ticket, where someone never wants to eat out, etc. Not today and it was nice.

Our pics here.