The W's were staying with Nana and Papa so we met them in the city so they could join in on the fun.
First ride up was the ship and after our group watched it go once Philip and I were only able to convince Willow to join us on it.
(The blur of this photo totally adds to the authenticity and gives the feel of the rocking motion of the ride, right?)
To motivate the other two we headed for what appeared to be a milder ride in the children's part of the park - spinning espresso cups. Yes, you read that right, they were not tea cups like at a Disney park and the experience was like the difference between coffee and espresso, much more severe.
The mild appearance of this ride and its location in the kiddie section of the park was very deceptive as the large bruise on my knee and the horrible nausea episode I experienced afterward can attest to. After that I made the executive decision the next ride should be one the kids could go on by themselves.
The Produce Express (my own inventive name for it - do you see the size of those carrots?) seemed to be a good option. Large vegetables, slow moving train...how exciting.
Needless to say we'd had a mediocre start to our amusement park adventure (seriously I could have walked and beat this train in a race at the pace it was keeping had I not been fighting a now bum knee and the urge to regurgitate my lunch) but we kicked it up a notch and moved on to an impressive magic show.
That is to say, if you are impressed by a man who turns on a spout & water sprinkles out after he says "Let it rain!"
Willow's face says it all. #notimpressed
So we pressed forward and hit up the Renegade Rapids because:
1) by definition renegade means rebel and clearly that's what a group that consists of a grandmother, 9 month old, two 30-something's, 5 year-old, and two 4 year-olds is
and
2) in all actuality adults could ride with kids and at this point only Willow was brave enough to try anything and if we were going to get our money's worth and let them truly experience the fun of an amusement park we needed to increase the boldness of our other participants.
It worked. They loved it. I chose a seat that was just nearly dry when I rode with them the first time thinking I would be just that when I got off. I was wrong. We were all soaked which made it that much more "AWESOME" to the kids.
Nana was a good sport & rode twice in a row.
Denver was very limited in his choice of rides because to ride nearly any of them (even in an adult lap) a baby must be able to take three unassisted steps. Oddly enough he had just the day before taken his first two unassisted steps. However, three was the magic number and don't think you are going to get any leeway with teenagers who are the gatekeepers of these rides. Fear not America - if the youth working at Frontier City is any indication of our future law and order will certainly abound.
It didn't seem to bother him though.
After the rapids all the kidlets were on board to ride the various amusements and they really began to have fun.
We even found a train that went around the whole park that Denver could enjoy too (no step requirement necessary!).
The highlight for the three oldest appeared to be the mini roller coaster.
For Denver it was his initial taste of lemonade.
Everyone had a good time and surprisingly this group of renegades closed down the park. It was a late evening but one that left us happily exhausted.
Or maybe, as Willow's expression shows, slightly delirious from the excitement and fun of it all...
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