August summer fun

We wrapped up the last month of summer and attended all sorts of “fairs”: Carver county (where a family friend shows llamas and let’s Regan get up close and personal, Valleyfair, and the state fair (deserving a post of its own). We sprinkled in a trip to the water park and a doggy sleepover and called it an excellent month! 

Regan helping take this buddy for a walk. She still insists we could put one in our backyard.  

Lincoln and my undivided attention during our trip to Valleyfair and scored this giant snow cone! 

He had so much fun on those rides, only bummed that he wasn’t big enough for the more adventurous ones. 

We dog sat while the neighbors took their youngest to college. Such a sweet dog! She never barked once, but that girl is relentless with the tennis ball! All day long, that is all she wants to do. Good thing it wears her out so she slept well for me.  

 

Slides and rides and more fair fun

 

 

Lazy river water park fun. Lincoln has no fear. He's so brave and tells me to go sit down, so he can go on slides alone. I'm so thankful of his (all of the kids') swimming skills, as it makes these outings so much  more enjoyable.

We squeezed in so much fun between the end of summer ball and the start of school! 

Riding the rides

Each year Ryan’s company takes the employees and families on a fun local adventure. This year we were blessed to head into Valleyfair for a full day of rides. 

By far Lincoln enjoyed the day the most, announcing early in the day that he intended to go on rides alone this year. Apparently he's a big boy now :) While he went on ride after ride in the little kid area, Ryan got green in the face after only 2 big kid rides. Turns out, it’s finally catching up to him. He (and Regan) were quite disappointed that he wasn’t able to go on more. Thankfully Regan went back with friends just a few days later so it all worked out.

The girls had the best time on this water ride! And Lincoln loved dropping quarters in the squirt gun to give them an extra blast of water :) 

And what’s a trip to Valleyfair without filling this cup up 4 times over with slush mix. Most often, Lincoln picked the color and every time, he chooses orange! 

We are so thankful for Ryan’s company and their incredible work/family balance! 

Soak city at Valleyfair

We decided to check out Soak City waterpark at Valleyfair last Friday. It was predicted to be 90+ hot and humid and the weatherman did not disappoint! It's a fun waterpark and Ryan/Regan were really excited to try out the new slides. 

We spent a few hours going on water slides, splashing in water, napping (Lincoln did that), and soaking up some rays before we decided to brave the heat and enjoy some rides. 

Lincoln is following in his big sisters' footsteps and enjoys all of the rides that Valleyfair will let him attempt. This lady bug was one of his favs and we could hear him giggle each time he came around as his bug went up and down a small hill. He loved it! 

Since he can walk, he is allowed to go on most of the Planet Snoopy rides along with an adult, so yours truly got to go round and round on all of the kiddie rides with him! 

And while he and I went round and round, the other 3 went way up high!! Before we left in the morning, we measured Sidney (wearing shoes) and the girl is just at 48" exactly. That happens to be the sweet spot for Valleyfair big kid rides (most of them). So she happily went on the Extreme Swings, Renegade and Wild Thing without any hesitation, even dragging me along with her for some! She'll be thrilled to go back in a few weeks for the rest of the coasters when we attend Ryan's work outing. 

In the picture below, she's in the 3rd seat from the right, then Ryan, then Regan. 

Yippee for fun family memories! 

Valleyfair / Camp Spooky

We spent Saturday at Camp Spooky at Valleyfair, taking in another round of rides and entertainment. Our kids loved the singers/dancers and despite being dressed in torn costumes with zoombie like make up, they all got a kick out of the performance.

I think Ryan secretly likes that he gets to take Regan on all the adult rides. She adores almost all of them, and even the ones that scare her (like Steel Venom), she tolerates and is his riding partner. 

 

And while the big kids were on those rides, Sidney took comfort in walking hand-in-hand with sweet Paxton (Ashley will tell you he's not so sweet these days). He sure let Sidney take charge and hold his hand much of the day. 

 

 

Little Lincoln got to go on just one ride...but two times. They don't allow any hand-held infants except on the carousel. He likes watching how it operates, taking note that the music gets louder when we are on one side. He's so inquisitive and wants to check it all out. We both remember Regan being exactly the same way when she went on rides. Next year he'll be walking and the opportunities will be wide open for him!

 

Check out that curl on the right side of his head....no way I'm getting it cut anytime soon :) 

Valleyfair 2014

We did our annual Valleyfair outing this week. And it proved exciting once again. At 54", Regan is now tall enough to go on virtually every ride and did so without hesitation. New for her this year was Steel Venom and Power Tower. She has already loved all the roller coasters for a year or two. We don't have to force her onto rides, there's no "strong encouragement" on our part. In fact, I tried talking her out of Steel Venom! Oh, but she loves them all. And it makes us proud and excited about her growing up. She got off Steel Venom and was pretty shaken; not eager to go on it again that day, but said she'll do it again next time!

 And while the adults took turns taking Regan on rides (thank you Jamie, Ashley, Logan and Ryan), I spent the bulk of the day chasing around with these 3 (plus Harlow and Lincoln). I had two grandmas to help so it really wasn't much work at all. Unfortunately, Sidney wishes that she was tall enough for the coasters, but it'll be a couple of years I think.

Thankfully, I think they still had a ton of fun!

Lincoln was content in the stroller throughout the day. We took breaks in the family center to change and feed in their private rooms (that was an awesome discovery!). He was all smiles after scoring Ryan's water bottle and played with that thing patiently for probably an hour. 

We can't be sure if the girls like the rides or the jumbo Icees better. Honestly, they get them every year and this time, each got 3 refills! We don't tell them that Ryan and I sneak a drink while they are on rides :) Shhh!

Harlow and Lincoln took it all in. I couldn't resist taking a quick picture as Harlow tried to hold Lincoln's hand from the stroller. Gosh they're some cuties!

Paxton and Ryan were twinsies for the day, both dressed in orange shirts and navy shorts. I think they planned it :) 

This crew is getting older and older and it has been a treat to watch them have more and more fun each year. While I took Regan on the Corkscrew, she asked a question that I knew would be coming soon: "when can I go to Valleyfair with friends?". I'm guessing it'll be coming sooner than later. 

Thanks for another great day at Valleyfair! 

Valleyfair

Our girls love rides. It's no lie that they could go round and round and up and down all day long, neither of them wanting to stop for a meal or to go to the bathroom. So each year, we try to make a day out of Valleyfair. Some day, I'm sure they'll need season passes like the older kids in our neighborhood, but for now, they are happy with once or twice a year. 

And so are we! 

Ryan is just a big kid when it comes to rides. He loves them as much as the girls. Who am I kidding, so do I! But Valleyfair is much more strict than Disneyland and I wasn't allowed on much of anything. So Ryan took them on rides that spun, and he/Regan went on rides that went way up high! Her favorite is still the Corkscrew, and Sidney might tell you this Scrambler is her favorite (listening to her giggles and seeing the laughter plastered on her face is priceless!). 

One of only two rides I was allowed on today, the Ferris Wheel. So I jumped at the opportunity to take a spin into the sky with these two little girls. We watched as the sun was setting after a very long day of fun. 

Our spunky Sidney was striking some poses for me :) 

Thanks grandma Sheri for a fun filled day!

Valleyfair!

Every year, we make a trip to Valleyfair with Ryan's family. Today was the day, dreary as it was. Thankfully, by 2pm, the rain had stopped and we were able to enjoy our time eating fried food and going in circles high up in the sky! Regan is our dare-devil, she'll go on all the rides and can't wait until she's tall enough to go on the "big kid" ones with Ryan!

Sidney, on the other hand, is our little chicken. Reading this, my family will immediately think "FORCED FUN!" and that's exactly what happened today :) I knew she'd love it once I got her on a ride. So when she asked to go on the balloon ride with Regan and Ashley, I got over my fear of feeling sea-sick and climbed aboard. By the time we buckled in, Sidney turned into a puddle of fear and tears on my lap. We started moving and she raised her head and was giggling; I KNEW she'd like it! And that, my friends, is the reason behind "forced fun".

This ride has always been one of Regan's favorite; surprsingly, she only went on it twice today!

Both girls devoured these over-priced Icees's....

...and so did Ryan!

See, forced fun really worked, she asked to go on the "neigh neighs" all by herself!

No trip to an amusement park is complete without Cotton Candy! Regan stuffed herself silly with the fluffy stuff while Sidney spit it right out onto Grandma's shirt-"yuck!", she doesn't like the texture is my guess.