Vacation out West Part VII: Lagoon (Da Goon)

Grandma Smith is one of the sweetest people on earth.  She started working at Lagoon when Bruce was in Kindergarten so she could take advantage of earning free tickets so her grand children could go to Lagoon.  She has worked there every summer for 30 years.  At the end of last year, she thought that her time at Lagoon should come to an end.  Then.... she heard that we were going to come out and visit for the month of July.  She wanted Eliza and Zabien (and their parents?) to have the opportunity to go to Lagoon - this was the perfect birthday present for Eliza.  So, she stuck it out at Lagoon for one more year to earn enough tickets for not only our family, but for all of her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren to go together.  (Some of Bruce's aunts and cousin chipped in their free tickets too to make it happen.)  The whole day was so wonderful!  So much fun to hang out with family, especially for Eliza and Zabien to hang out with cousins Ezra and Lillie.  Those 4 were inseparable.  3 month old Hazel was perhaps the only one who didn't like Lagoon.  Thankfully she took a bottle for aunt Annette and slept peacefully at grandma's house for hours while mom got in some playtime. 

We met at grandma Smith's house around 9:30 for some sausage and pancake sticks and donuts.  Yum!!  She even had Lagoon T-shirts for all the great grandkids (oh and me, I'm so lucky!)

                         

I love this picture of the 4 cousins (Ezra, Eliza, Lillie were all born within 6 months of each other - Zaby was a year and a half later, but he is bigger than Lillie so you can't really tell.) Eliza's face cracks me up in this one!

We divided up the tickets, and most everyone walked from her house to the park.  We used Aunt Linda's employee parking pass to get the kids closer to the gate.  Oddly enough, by the time we walked around the park to the entrance, those who walked the whole way from grandma's actually beat us there.  The kids went with Linda and Grandma, while Bruce and I and several of his brothers and sisters got in line for Cannibal.  I will be honest, I was really nervous about this ride.  In my younger years, I was a roller coaster queen - I would ride about anything.  Add 12 years and 3 children and I find myself much more susceptible to vertigo and motion sickness.  Although it was a little terrifying, it was also so much FUN, and I didn't have any negative side effects from it for the rest of the day.   We rode a couple more rides on our way over to meet up with grandma and the kids.  I spent the rest of the day in the new and improved kiddie land.

                           

Riding the old fashioned cars

Boats and airplanes

Eliza and Lillie - so cute!

(Zabien is the first boy in red next to cousin Ammon)

Riding the dragon

Zabien and Ezra

I was really impressed with how many new rides they have for children.  I was quite surprised that both Eliza and Zabien were tall enough to ride these rides which so closely mimic the "big" rides on the other end of the park. 

Late afternoon we headed back to grandma house for some much needed nourishment and refreshing water.  We took an hour break, then I headed back to the park with Lillie, Ezra, Eliza, and Zabien for 4 more hours of non-stop fun.  The lines weren't even that long - we got to ride everything they wanted to ride multiple times.  I was so grateful that Hazel did so well away from me for an extended amount of time.  It was so nice having grandma's house close enough to check on her a couple of times throughout the day. 

After lunch, we headed to the carousel.  What kid doesn't like the carousel?

Eliza

Zabien

Ezra

Lillie

I didn't really get another chance to ride rides for myself.  However, I probably had just as much fun watching my children ride or riding the smaller rides with my children than I would have on some of the adult rides anyway.  Seriously, watching my children have fun is one of the most rewarding things as a busy mom. 

Grandma Richards showed up half way through the day when she got off work.  I think she had as much fun riding with these 4 grandchildren as they did with her.  Miniature roller coasters, small rockets, and squirting dolphins were some of the great rides we went on. 

Zabien and I waiting to shoot up

The cousins waiting to ride the lady bug drop

Eliza, Ezra, Zabien, and Bruce waiting to ride the Tidal wave

Me, Grandma Richards, Lillie, and Angeline await them on the opposite side

I love this picture!  Grandma with 3 of her grandchildren.  Eliza's face is full of personality, and you can't ignore the photo bombers behind us!

You can't forget the bumper cars.  Not surprising, Zaby was a natural; he quickly figured out how to steer and make the most of his bumper abilities.  Eliza on the other hand spent the majority of her time stuck in the corner. 

Some of the roller coasters were pretty intense for a 2.5 year old (like Zabien).  I was first of all surprised that he was tall enough to get on it, and I thought it would be too scary for him.  However, as soon as it was over and we were getting off, both Eliza and Zabien exclaimed as loudly as they could - "let's go again!".  So we did, over and over and over again.  No ride scared them.  I thought they would tucker out around dinner time, but they made it clear until 8:00 before I decided we needed to be done.  We went back to grandma's house for some dinner.  Even though I was exhausted, the kids somehow still had energy.  They spent another hour running around and playing at grandma Smith's house.  I convinced them that it was time to head back to grandma Richard's house. I drove 5 kids home.  We hadn't even made it to the freeway before all 5 of them crashed.  Carrying a sleeping 4, 3, 2, 2, and 3 month old into the dark house by myself was no easy feat, but it was quiet. 
 Bruce ended up heading back to Lagoon to catch up with his younger brothers and sisters.  They rode until the park closed making sure to catch Cannibal at least 2 more times.  The entire day was a blast.  Thank you grandma Smith for making magic happen for us.  When asked about our vacation, the kids mentioned they went to grandma's house, picked raspberries, fed chickens, and went to DaGoon.  They still ask 8 months later when we are going back to grandma and grandpa Smith's house.