Monday August 18, 2008
We just got back from a day at Kings Dominion. Grandad graciously invited us to tag along for a company sponsored outing at his work, so we brought our whole brood. The park opened at 10:30 .. we were in the gates by 11am. Park closed at 8pm, we were pulling out of the lot at 7:58pm.
We had a blast all day long, with surprisingly few meltdowns.
First stop was Nickelodeon land. We spied “Blue” and gave her a hug and got a pic:
Then, Wesley wanted to ride the “Rugrats Toonpike.” It looked really cute - a little minature town that kids can drive pint-sized cars through. But I quickly realized it was a disaster. Although the line looked short - it took forever for them to move each group through, so the wait was horrible. And I got to endure lots of questions about the Rugrats, whom I detest. Even worse, poor Silas wasn’t big enough to go on it, so he had to play the waiting game outside the ride (until Grandad rescued him and took him on another kiddie ride).
When Wesley finally got her moment to drive, she had a hard time with steering and kept driving into the curb, which made her car stop. By the time she finally got the hang of it, her 3 minutes were up and the ride was over.
Despite my frustration with how long it all took, she had fun, and things got much better afterwards. We headed for “Kidzville” which had a ton of kiddie rides, which both kids could take full advantage of.
Wesley was flirting with this little boy!
Bumper cars was a big hit and so funny to watch. We were concerned about Silas getting stuck against the perimeter, so we kept telling him ahead of time to turn his wheel if he got stuck. And the boy listened! He had the wheel cranked so hard he did donuts for about 90% of the time. It was hilarious. Grandad tried to explain the finer points of “straightening out” but I don’t think it really sunk in. Maybe in another 13 years.
The Kidz Construction Company was a really neat play area with places to climb and explore. Both kids had fun in it.
Grandad even did a little babysitting. All by himself!
This mini-beserker was fun. They loved the “rocking boat.”
Around 1:30, we took a break and had lunch at the pavillions, courtesy of PW Marine. The kids enjoyed yummy hot dogs and Asher had his first “push pop”. He liked it.
After lunch, we were ready to head out again for more fun. The “double” stroller was great for hauling all our gear and kids. In our case, it was more of a triple stroller.
Look who got to hang out in the back:
It was great to go with Grammy & Grandad because they were kind enough to tagalong and watch the baby while we took turns riding with the kids. The one roller coaster Silas was big enough for was the “Taxi Jam”. He loved it! As did Wes - she’s a daredevil, like me.
This ride was especially fun because they have cameras mounted in front of each car and take a video of your ride, which you can then buy. We didn’t buy, but it was fun to watch it on the screens.
After this, Wesley & I rode the “Scooby Doo Coaster.” This was quite nostalgic for me, because it was the first coaster I remember riding as a kid. She was apprehensive while we were waiting in line, but absolutely loved it. We both had fun putting our hands up and screaming.
Meanwhile, Asher napped.
After a few more kid rides, it was time for a little grown-up fun. Grammy & Grandad watched the munchkins while Mike & I rode the “Drop Tower.”
Talk about a rush! KD describes it as, “The largest drop ride in North America, a 305-foot tower of thrills that promises daring riders a 272-foot descent at 72 miles-per-hour! This adrenaline-pumping adventure simulates the sensation of skydiving.”
Adrenaline-pumping indeed! We loved it. It’s was now after 4pm and Grammy & Grandad were fading. I wanted to squeeze in one real roller coaster ride, so Mike & I took a turn on the Rebel Yell (my all-time favorite ride - a classic coaster), while the grandparents had kid duty. The wait was a little longer than expected and when we came out, this is what we found:
Silas had been so good all day - nary a meltdown. But he couldn’t quite make it to 5pm - he conked out in Grandad’s arms. G&G were ready to hit the road, but we had promised the kids some water action, so we decided to check out the WaterWorks section before calling it a day.
Silas woke up and we all had fun playing in their wave pool. After that, Mike took the big kids on a turn down the Lazy River.
There was a lot more to explore in WaterWorks, but it was now after 6pm and we needed to eat again. After refueling with Chick-Fil-A, we started to head back through the park to the entrance. You’d think the kids would be ready to pass out, but no, they wanted to ride some of their favorite rides again!
Wesley & I took another turn on the Scooby Doo, while Silas hit some other Kidzville attractions. We FINALLY got back to the entrance around 7:45pm. I wanted to get a picture of the park with the setting sun to show how long we lasted, but instead, I had to settle for a dancing Wesley & Silas.
After all that, we hit the road and made it home in record time. Everyone conked out pretty quick, most likely dreaming of rides they’d like to ride again and again.
Tomorrow morning, they will wake up as they always do and say, “What are we going to do to today?”
The answer is, I’m not sure, but I know it won’t be as much fun as we had today!
Posted Aug 18, 2008 9:57 pm by Kendra under us |
Wednesday August 13, 2008
This past weekend we had our annual Fun Fest trip. For the past 10-15 years (it’s been so long, I’ve forgotten how many now), we’ve gotten together with friends to camp and boat down at Buggs Island Lake (officially known as Fun Fest trip. For the past 10-15 years (it’s been so long, I’ve forgotten how many now), we’ve gotten together with friends to camp and boat down at Buggs Island Lake (officially known as John Kerr Resevoir). We tent camp at North Bend Park, and boat and swim and wakeboard to our hearts delight.
This year was a little different, for a couple of reasons:
1) We scaled back the guest list dramatically. Typically, we go with 12-18 of our bestest buds and have a great time. Friends from my college days, friends from church, friends from B & Ms circle of friends, etc. This year, having 3 kids under the age of 5, I just didn’t feel up to hosting a big crowd. Hopefully next year we can invite more friends again, but this year, simpler was better. It was just us and Bear & Mel & Owen and one new guest …. Grandad!
2) Grandad not only decided to join us on our camping adventure, he decided to kick it up a notch by bringing his swanky RV along. This definitely redefined our notion of “roughing it” and it turned out to be most fortunate because …
3) I came down with mastitis the day before we were supposed to leave. If you’ve never had it, be glad. It felt like a bad case of the flu and left me in bed with a high fever and alternating between chills and hot flashes. This meant Mike had to care for the kids and pack everything. I was useless until my antibiotics kicked in.
Mike did a great job getting everything ready, with two tiny exceptions: a pack ‘n play for the baby and an air mattress for me. When I realized this Friday evening, I quickly played the “sick momma/baby needs to sleep” card and hightailed it for the RV, leaving hubby to fend for himself with two wild jackals children in the tent.
So, I enjoyed a climate controlled night of sleep on the Select Comfort Sleep Number bed. Now, the baby did wake just about every 3 hours to nurse, which was quite painful, but I knew better than to complain.
When I woke Saturday morning, I felt much better and enjoyed our weekend. The weather was absolutely perfect all weekend … right up until Sunday morning when we were getting ready to leave. What was going to be a leisurely boat ride quickly turned into a scramble to get the boat on the trailer before the downpour got worse.
Of course, the minute everything was hooked up and cinched down, the sun broke loose and shined upon us.
We wrapped up our weekend with a interminable brief stop at Cracker Barrel before heading back home.
As we approached the perimeter of Northern Va., traffic came to it’s typical slowdown. We decided to take a detour in Fredericksburg and introduce the kids to our good friend, Carl. It had been a while, but Carl still knows how to make the best soft serve around!
Due to my sluggish nature, I didn’t get to many pictures of the weekend, but hopefully Uncle B will fill in the blanks. Here’s the few that I did capture:
Chillin at the campsite
Enjoying some lake swimmin
Wesley was a fish all weekend - she loved swimming!
Hanging with Grandad on the floatie
Cousin Owen’s books were a big hit
Trying to escape the rain by hiding under the dash
Asher had to rely on a towel
Waiting for a table at Cracker Barrel
Checkers - preschool style (very loose rules)
On the road .. in a caravan. Boat in front …
RV in back (don’t mind the dirty windshield)
The best ice cream around!
The sign of a successful weekend
Posted Aug 13, 2008 2:59 pm by Kendra under us |
Wednesday August 13, 2008
We had a nice time visiting Grandad for lunch last week. Grandad works at a boat dealership so it’s a pretty exciting place for little kids to check out. Grandad got to show off the grandkids to his co-workers, as we enjoyed lunch from my favorite sandwich joint in his conference room:
Asher was a little grumpy about his meal.
After lunch, we got to go for a ride on the “electric go-kart”. The kids loved it.
We finished off our visit by checking out the boats in the showroom.
Start saving your pennies now, kiddos, if you want to buy your own someday.
Posted Aug 13, 2008 8:08 am by Kendra under us |
Tuesday August 12, 2008
Renee already mentioned this, but we had fun at Waterworks last week with her and her two, and another mom and her two. It’s hard to get pictures when you’re chasing 3 kids around, but everyone had a great time swimming and playing. Here’s a few shots of the fun:
Renee & Lydia
Wes
Whee!
Kay’s girls
They had fun going down together
I didn’t get any pictures in the big pool - I was too busy in the water!
Posted Aug 12, 2008 7:45 am by Kendra under us |
Tuesday August 12, 2008
My kids pay attention when commercials use cartoons or cute animals to sell their product. For example, my
kids can recognize the butterfly named “Lunesta” on sight. They’ve also been asking the name of that bee on TV. I told them, his name was “Nasonex”.
Today we saw a Nasonex commercial and Wesley said, “Nasonex must be friends with Lunesta!”
Posted Aug 12, 2008 7:22 am by Kendra under us |
Tuesday August 05, 2008
Today, while pushing Wesley on the swings:
Wesley: “Mom, will you do an underdog?”
Me: “No, that’s a daddy thing.”
Wesley: “When I grow up and become a mommy, I’m going to be a mommy who does underdogs.”
Posted Aug 05, 2008 7:47 pm by Kendra under wesley |
Saturday August 02, 2008
I meant to mention earlier, after Asher’s first tooth showed up, the second soon followed. However, it is difficult to document the early tooth sitings b/c they are just tiny nubs and babies rarely cooperate in showing off their new toofies.
I decided to try and get a picture of them this morning. Asher said he would rather eat first, but I was undeterred. You may note a trace of irritability in his expression, but pay no attention that — just check out the teeth:
Did you see the teeth? No? How bout in this pic?
I’m getting the impression you aren’t focusing on the intended area. Let me try one last time.
I know, you can say it. I am the worlds meanest mommy.
(but I promise I did feed him right after that and he went right back to his normal happy self).
Posted Aug 02, 2008 1:12 pm by Kendra under asher |
Friday August 01, 2008
I know I’ve already bored you with my crawling videos, but I had to take this clip today. Try and tell me this isn’t cute thing ever. And check out his favorite “toy” at the end…
Posted Aug 01, 2008 5:48 pm by Kendra under asher |
Thursday July 31, 2008
The downside of having taken the kids to an amusement park is that they now know what to do on a roller coaster. You put your hands up while going up the big hill (and encourage your brother/sister to do the same). Then, when you get to the top of the hill and start to plummet down, you scream and wave your arms.
I have no idea why they thought do that while I was driving…
But hey, I could be worse…
Posted Jul 31, 2008 9:27 am by Kendra under us |
Tuesday July 29, 2008
Asher is six months and officially crawling! It’s not elegant, in fact, it’s a bit hilarious, but I’m so proud of my pipsqueak. Here’s two clips, probably boring to everyone but the grands. Please ignore my annoying baby babble.
And here’s a few more pics, just for fun:
Beware big sisters…
First time on a swing:
Posted Jul 29, 2008 10:01 pm by Kendra under asher |