Subtitle: Christmas in July
Just back from yet another busy weekend. I’m having fond memories of last month when I was convinced life would slow down once school ended. Silly me! We just keep going and going. Today, however, is a down day. Washing car seats, laundry, dishes, blogging, etc. The kids are almost up from quiet time and I’m going to see if I can ignore them long enough to get this blog post done :)
This weekend was our much anticipated (for me) trip to Santa’s Village and Day Out With Thomas. When I first (months ago) told the kids about our plans they were thrilled but last week they seemed to have trouble keeping it in their heads. I think they were still recovering from the 4th of July and our last trip! Once we started packing excitement grew.
After an easy drive (my kids are top-notch travelers!) through spectacular scenery we arrived at Santa’s Village. I was having last minute doubts about whether this would be any fun since Lex isn’t really into Santa and, well, it’s July, but of course those were silly thoughts. We had a great time! There were rides just right for them and the lines were very reasonable (even non-existent at some rides) and the weather was a touch on the cool side, which was perfect for a day of walking around. The sun came out in the afternoon and heated things up a bit. We rode the rides and played the Elfabet game and ate some goodies and had a great time!
Santa's Village awaits!
This might have been the most fun ride. We did it twice, switching partners, and everyone loved it! Lex even tried his hand at driving for awhile :)
The view from the top of the ferris wheel.
…quiet time over… kids are up… successfully ignoring them so far…
Lex loved the ferris wheel. He and Alan rode it while Eve and I rode The Himalayas! (a ride I loved at the fair many years ago, but it was too loud and fast for Lex). When we met up again Lex insisted on taking me on the ferris wheel because "it's the most fun ride ever!"
"Look at that nice rock Mom. Do you want to take a picture of me sitting on it?" Umm... YES!
Crazy family! Good thing Alan has long arms! :)
Eve feeding reindeer cookies to the reindeer. This place made me laugh because they had stalls for all eight reindeer (I didn't notice if there was one labeled Rudolph), but there were two to five reindeer in each stall. So the kids had no idea which reindeer was Dasher or Dancer or etc. You'd think one per stall would have been more useful for perpetuating the myth :)
Cupcake chairs! I love them!(I think my camera was on the wrong setting for much of the day :( )
Lex is practicing his senior portrait pose :)
… Eve is bored… must be quick…
Riding the reindeer carousel. They were all Rudolph. Eve loved that.
The water park! Their newest addition (added last year, I think) We avoided it completely. By the time we got to that side of the park it was late afternoon and I was too tired to even consider changing into bathing suites and entering the chaos. Fortunately the kids seemed to agree and didn't argue much.
Taking a break to watch a show. See everyone eating ice cream? We were hot and tired and I decided ice cream was in order. By the time I got to the front of the line I was met with "Sorry, our ice cream machine is broken." Denied! Probably for the best anyway.
This might be the world's most boring ride. It was the last ride of the day and our longest wait in line. The fire engine went around the building and the basket went up and down while you used a hose to spray the building. There were broken LED numbers on top so I think the point was to spray in the circles in the yellow fire and earn points, but the numbers didn't work, the hoses barely worked, and the whole thing moved slowly. The kids liked it, but Alan and I agreed it was the most boring ride ever!
On the way out Lex said "Don't you want a picture of me and Eve in that sleigh?" Of course! Sadly Eve disagreed. Oh well.
After we left Santa’s Village we drove up the road to our B&B. It was a cute place but I was too tired and hungry to take pictures for the rest of the day. We checked in, went to a local deli place to grab dinner (pizza slices) then crashed in front of a little TV to watch Oliver and Company on VHS. Ahhh… 80’s flashbacks everywhere! Then off to bed.
Eve will not be ignored any longer so this is going to have to be a two-part blog. Stay tuned for our exciting adventures with Thomas the Train! Peep peep!
