Idlewild!

We hit another family favorite this week, Idlewild. We talked Hadley into picking this for her birthday outing. It's such a great park. It's really low key, geared toward younger kids, completely shaded and picnic friendly. It just has so many unique things about it. So much more character than any regular amusement park. I just love it and we always have fun when we go. I like it so much, I might pick it for my birthday outing next year!

We headed out bright and early to get there first thing when it opened. We spent the morning wandering through the Storybook Forest, the ropes course jungle and did a few of the rides. Wyatt surprised me by requesting the hot air balloon ride. He's such a nervous nellie, I was a little shocked he requested it, but didn't want to discourage him so off we went while Hadley and Dayven were waiting in the ridiculously long line for the ferris wheel. I'm not going to lie, I had a mild panic attack once it started going up in the air (Wyatt may get his neuroses from me). He panicked a little too but I gave him (ahem...me) a pep talk, while reaching across to pat his knee, and desperately clutched poor Tate for dear life. He was oblivious that we were 200 feet up in the air and almost died for crying out loud! But we survived, only slight dizzy and woozy. I faked a forgotten item in the car, which forced me to run back to the parking lot while Dayven and the kids hit "the whip". The name alone says it all. We did more rides than we've ever done at a park like this. I just couldn't believe how brave the kids were. They wanted to do more and more. Last year Hadley rode them all alone but this year Wyatt joined her on every one. I was so proud of them for being so brave!

We took a break to have a nice picnic lunch we'd brought, then hit it again. Tate was a trooper, even though he never got an afternoon nap. We had every intention of leaving shortly after lunch, but we were just having so much fun we decided to keep going. I tried wearing him, but he protested loudly. I tried reclining him in the stroller, but that didn't work. We even tried napping him on a park bench. He grumbled for a bit while we continuously plied him with snacks before he just gave in and quietly watched the action from the stroller with his thumb in his mouth. We did a bunch more rides, including the Mister Rogers' trolley, which is slightly creepy and entertaining all in one. All in all, a great day. Two out of three fell asleep in the car on the way home. Always a sign of an exhaustingly fun day!

Yep, just as creepy as it looks...

We came, we saw, we conquered. Time to go!