Family Vacation, Day 1: Lagoon

We were all very excited to leave all worries behind to hang out with each other for a few days. After packing ourselves into two vehicles we made our way to Utah to stay at the Boyd home.  Kellie's full basement with a kitchen was perfect, so much better than sharing hotel rooms would have been.

In the morning we made it to the entrance of Lagoon shortly after it opened.  The older kids took off together to find the adrenalin rush they'd been hoping for while LeRoy and I kept Nathan and Hyrum.

The boys loved the rides!

Their very favorite ride was the Dinosaur Drop.

The first time we went, Hyrum looked like he was going to wet his pants, cry, and scream all at the same time.  I told him it was okay to scream and on the next drop he responded with a scream of the highest pitch I had ever heard.  I went with him several times and then he was fine to go with Nathan.  The two of them kept going between the Dinosaur Drop and the Ladybug Bop, which were pretty much the same ride, running to whichever line was the shortest. They stayed at these rides for 40 minutes while LeRoy and I sat on the bench watching them.

Before we met up with the others for lunch we took a train ride to see the animals. We all laughed when we saw the lion, Bengal tiger and white tiger all sleeping belly up just like Harrison does.

My favorite ride has always been the swings.  I love having the wind blow in my hair, my legs dangling freely as my chair gradually climbs into the air, and the calm peace I feel as I relax into the swing.  I convinced Nathan to go on the swings with me and after getting over his initial hesitation he found that he too loves the swings.

We went back a couple of times and then, after meeting up with the older kids again, we went a couple of more times.

Though we didn't have much wait time in lines we still had our down times.

While waiting with Nathan and Hyrum we tried on a few hats.

And, when they had had enough of the stores they played in the fountains.

We took our coolers into the park for lunch and fed our hungry bellies, building up the energy to go for the afternoon.  For dinner we left the park long enough to go to Subway nearby and then spent the evening, right up until closing, catching as much fun as Lagoon could offer.  As dark came I was somewhat kidnapped by Vivien, Bret and Derek.  I think their goal was to get me to scream....and they did.  We started off with Wicked and it completely lived up to it's name.  A straight drive up and then a speeding gravity fall down just does not seem logical and as I yelled out "this is not right" the kids just laughed around me, getting their own thrill out of my reaction.  I was crazy enough to stick with them while they took me on the Spider, Colossus, and Samurai. The kids didn't seem as interested in the rides as they did my reaction to them and that was okay.  It was so much fun to be with them!

We had a wonderful day!  Everyone came away with some kind of stuffed animal or souvenir and plenty of memories to laugh about all the way home and for days to come.