Lagoon

Utah has their very own amusement park located approximately twenty minutes from our house. We have driven by it countless times on our northern excursions, but never once in the almost ten years that I have now lived here have I ventured inside. It just seemed right that we chose a super hot summer day when I am thirty weeks pregnant to both open and close the place down. And even though I only rode on the train and carousel, I would have to say it was a very worthwhile trip.

We all gathered in the free parking section and then took the bus over to the park. While we waited Cody basically started a little kids camp full of games, dancing and fun to entertain the kiddos. Bailey and Will loved it the most.

 Then we all boarded the bus and were off to the lagoon to start our day. Well, right after we dropped off our coolers of food over by the pavilion.

 Our first destination was kiddie land. We thought about waiting in line for the teacups and then glanced over and noticed this little whale ride had zero wait, so we walked on over, threw the girls in and they got the entire ride to themselves.

Bailey was very excited. Hazel was a little skeptical.

 And then it started moving and Hazel was not a happy camper. At this point we sort of started regretting her $30.00 ticket purchase for unlimited rides. The kid gets scared in the car when we drive down a big hill so this was basically her biggest nightmare.

 Her knight and shining Daddy swooped in and saved her while Bails ran around to the front of the line again and went back for ride number two.

 I think her ears were very happy that she got to ride solo the next few times.

 Then we went across the way to the jeep ride. Bails hopped in with Will and Sam attempted take number 2 with Hazel.

 This one went over a lot better with Hazel. I believe she actually enjoyed it.

 And even though she bonked her head during the crazy turn this one was all smiles.

 At this point the tea cups line had completely died down so the crew ran over to hop on. Both girls loved it and I couldn't believe how short all the lines were. At this point the girls managed to ride like 5 different rides in fifteen minutes. It was mind baffling since I am used to Disneyland and waiting at least 30 minutes for each ride.

 This ride was up next and it basically gave me a mild heart attack. The line was empty and Sam got the tail end glimpse of it. It seemed slow enough so he threw both girls on and walked towards the exit to stand by me. Then the ride started and it basically turned into the longest 30 seconds of my life. It was fast, caught air, and Hazel was screaming bloody murder as she tried to crawl out. I was mortified as I just pictured her wiggling out and flying across Lagoon to escape the crazy spaceship. Bails just sat their with her ears plugged as I laid into Sam about stopping the ride and being way more careful before we just throw Hazel onto a ride. Luckily we all survived (including our marriage and my heart) and we moved on, never to venture this way again.

 And that is when we found Hazel's dream ride. A car that moves about 1 mph around a track where she can pretend she is driving. Over the course of our 13 hour day I believe she rode on this car approximately 40 times. We got to be good friends with the two person staff that loaded/unloaded the children. Especially around 9:30pm when there was absolutely no line and we spent an hour walking from the exit to the entrance and back again.

 Hazel also loved this boat. Initially she didn't want to be left on it, but after it started moving she was more than happy to float along at 2 mph with her little cousin Jack.

 At this point in the day we took a little lunch break in the shade and my large pregnant body was very grateful. Then we ventured over to this crazy ride, where Bails miraculously had grown 2 inches from her last dr appt a month prior and just barely made the cut off. She then proceeded to ride this thing like 4 times in a row, begging each time it ended to go on again. Thank goodness for no lines and Uncle Cody for stepping in when Sam was about ready to puke.

 The carousel made both of them happy.

 Which was a little surprising considering when we go at the zoo this one makes me hold her the whole time and wont even sit on an animal. She stayed on her horse the whole time, but did have a death grip around my neck for a period of time.

 And my second ride of the day, the train. A big hit for all of us.

 It was around this time that Hazel finally fell asleep for a short nap while Sam ditched us for the big kid rides. Luckily for us Isaac also fell asleep so Eden and I just sat in the shade while Bails ate her root beer float. Besides being attacked by bees the entire time, it was a nice little break. And then it was back to the rides.

 I could not believe what a little dare devil she was. She kept watching the rides and begging to go on them. Nothing scared her.

 Even when she had to ride solo. In fact, there was plenty of times during the day when she would tell Sam to go because she wanted to go all by herself.

 This one was content to just drive her car around the loop, and then hop back on. In fact, she loved it so much that the poor guy who grabbed her out each time got growled at each time he picked her up and handed her to me. She was not a fan of him for taking her out of her precious car.

 Despite loving all the fast and scary rides, she still loved going on the little kid ones too!

 We also hit up Lagoon a Beach. Sam went on one of the big water slides while the little girls and I hung out in the kiddie area and floated the lazy river. Unlucky for us it randomly got kind of cold right when we changed and hopped into the water so we didn't last long. Also, the floor basically ate our feet. I had to keep checking to see if I was bleeding; that's how uncomfortable it was.

This was the roller coaster next door to the water park and Bails watched it the whole time we were in the water. She kept begging to go on it so after we left we ventured over to see if she was tall enough. Lucky for her that miraculous 2 inch growth over a month made it so she just barely made the cut off so she made sure to ride it 3 times in a row. Poor Sam was looking green after their adventure.

 She also saw this lady bug drop and demanded to go on it. The little dare devil. I wouldn't go on this one and she rode it 2 or 3 times with a giant smile on her face.

 We also ventured back here so poor neglected Hazel could ride her car and boat around like twenty more times...

 while all the big kids went on the pirate ship half a dozen times. As we were leaving the park for the day she told me this was her favorite ride of the day.

 And then we called it a day; mostly because we got kicked out.

I may never walk again, but it was a great day. Thank you Grandpa Braden for treating us all to Lagoon. We all had a wonderful time. 

Bailey Says...

When Sam was opening the blinds up one morning he accidentally popped the wand off. After a few attempts to get it back on he couldn't and expressed his disdain with a dang it.

Bails: Nice try, Dad!

Whenever I do anything these days...fix a broken toy, make dinner, go pee in the potty (since I definitely don't get to do that by myself anymore)....

Bails: (a huge gasp) Good Job, Mom.

After pulling into a parking spot at the hospital to visit Sam at school I opened Bails door for her to hop out. Her eyes were immediately drawn to a crayon and dum dum sucker that had been left dropped in the parking spot next to us.
Bails: Mom, Mom, look! Someone dropped their sucker.
Mom: Oh Yeah!
Bails: I think it was me!
Mom: Nice try. Don't touch it.

After taking forever to settle into her spot she finally got comfortable and was ready for me to read her book to her.
Bails: Ok Mom. Go for it!

Pioneer Day

Oh Utah and its crazy holidays! We were overjoyed that Sam's rotation actually gave him the day off. I never would have guessed, but I have actually kind of loved the last few weeks of gynecology. We spent the morning in Provo moving Connie and Brando into their brand new, gorgeous and very huge house. Bails said it perfect after her self guided tour of the whole place, "Mom, I love this house." I do too, Bails. We will just not be able to live in anything close to it for like twenty more years, most likely after you leave for college.

The evening was spent with the bbq and fireworks. After the fourth Bails decided that she in fact loves fireworks; a long way from the crying girl at Disneyland. We started the evening with the little poppers. Both girls that it was hilarious to throw them on the ground. The process basically went with Hazel throwing the popper not quite hard enough and Bails retrieving it, and taking the next 3-4 throws to actually make it pop. 

 Next up was some sparklers. Robby started the party off right.

 The girls were all a little tentative at first...

 But they quickly got into it...

 They were both so into it. Both girls kept gasping and cheering after each set and Bails exclaimed about ten different times how much she was loving it.

 And then the sparkler burned Bails arm a little bit and she wanted nothing to do with them the rest of the night. She was happy to watch everyone else, but refused to hold one again.

 Hazel on the other hand just got braver and braver.

And of course we ended the last of them with some cheers. Good job to Sam for not starting a fire or blowing off any limbs. Fireworks kind of scare me. I was more than happy to see them get over safely.

 

Happy Pioneer Day! Hooray for days off and relaxing with my favorite little family. 

Princess Camp

After 3 years of just being stuck at home with me day in and day out I finally decided to start looking for a dance class and pre-school for Bails. Before she even had a dance class she would talk about her 'dance class' all the time, and how it was just like Aunt Rachel's. We got a hot tip for Miss Julie's dance class which starts in September, but decided to join her summer Princess camp last minute. Bails had the time of her life. There was a trampoline, sprinklers, princess costumes, pizza and ice cream. And the last day of class was her first performance ever!

 While all the girls were in the studio getting ready, Hazel was busy trying to squirm out of my arms and join the group of girls. She was devastated when I wouldn't let her down so she could dress up and dance in the recital too. It is tough being the younger sister.

 I am pretty sure Bails was the youngest girl by far in the class...

She also had no idea what a boa was and what exactly she was supposed to do with it so it basically just got dragged behind her.

 The girls did their dance twice. Bails was a little distracted looking around at all the parent's and girls the first go around and so she was a little behind on all the dance moves...

 However, the second time around she was ready to go and on top of it...

 As soon as it was over she came running to me with a big smile and huge hug. And then she demanded that I take a picture of her swinging on the rope swing.

 And one quick picture with the infamous Ms Julie. Bails loves her.

The group celebrated with ice cream and yummy toppings, but since we had to do a Costco run we passed on the ice cream and filled our bowls up with skittles instead. The girls were more than happy with that.

Food Thieves...

Today for lunch I made them a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (half each), cheese stick and apple slices. They both ran to the table and happily scarfed it down while I got to work on my lunch. A grilled cheese sandwich. I returned to the table with it and Hazel grabbed half of it for herself and started munching away. I ate my half then got back up to microwave some yakisoba noodles. After a few minutes I returned with my warm noodles and both girls demanded some on their plates. I think I ended up with maybe two bites??? 

I then proceeded back to the kitchen to make a final grilled cheese sandwich. While it was cooking I snacked on apples and peanut butter to satisfy the hunger pains. The girls had finished up and were off playing with puzzles and princesses. When I was about to start eating my sandwich this time (hidden in the kitchen where I thought I would be safe) the little stinkers sixth sense kicked in and they wandered in. "Mom, what you eating" a very common Bailey question. And once again, I ended up turning over approximately half of my sandwich. I feel like I am raising teenage boys in these petite little girl bodies.