Dutch Wonderland

One thing that always marks the end of summer for us is our trip to Dutch Wonderland as a family. Shawn's work has its annual company picnic on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. They also offer one free family photo (see ours above), a free lunch and free admission (allowing employees to enter the park a little earlier than the rest of the crowds to keep lines moving).

The first thing we waited in line for was the train. I thought it was somewhat goofy that while they let us into the park early, they didn't start the rides until 10 am. So, we just waited extra long in the first ride line. UGH! Oh well! This was our first trip with Ryan and no stroller.

I took very few pictures as we needed "all hands on deck!" Here was Caleb enjoying the froggy ride while Joshua went on bumper cars with Daddy. The bumper car line is SO long! And a parent is required for height for both boys, so we have to go one at a time.

Here are Daddy & Joshua in action!

And patient Caleb waiting his turn, which I'm not sure he ever got due to the lines...

This was one of Ryan's few smiles that day... We tried to go on the Turtle Whirl as a family. As long as the baby wasn't a hand-held infant, the sign said that he could ride. I didn't remember this being as rough as it was, so I suggested we all go on. I sat with one of the older boys (I'm thinking it may have been Joshua?) and Shawn took Ryan and the other older boy.

This ride whips you around FAST! It was far more intense than I remembered it being. Ryan was TERRIFIED! He cried and cried and was done thereafter. I felt so bad. So did Shawn. My little buddy refused to ride anything after that - even the smaller rides meant for his age were a big fat NO! We tried to go on a little boat cruise around the river as a family. Nope! I stayed off with Ryan while Daddy took the other two. The older two did the froggy ride together (they love this thing!).

Ryan was done. He wouldn't do the little "Duke's Dozers" even with his older brothers (this ride barely moves). We strapped him in with Joshua; he screamed like we were trying to kill him. We decided not to torture our little buddy anymore. We ate lunch as a family and then I took Ryan home to our babysitter afterward.

The older boys went with Daddy on Duke's Lagoon (which scared Joshua) and on the astronaut space shuttles. Even though Joshua is old enough for the roller coasters, he's too scared to ride them. We did the fun slide several times (I went with them a few times and they went alone a few times) and we did the flume splash thing (even though the line was forever long).

The older boys love the Wonder Whip! Shawn & I laughed and laughed at the two of them screaming (which was higher pitched than the girls!). They were having a blast!

We left earlier than we have in years past to go home and get some dinner and pick up our little Schnook. Many years I've gone back with the older kids after supper and closed the park into the dark. But, this year we were all pretty tired and the lines were SO long at each activity that we felt pretty much done.

Shawn & I also knew that we had to pack for our next adventure that weekend, which we left for bright and early the next morning (I will post about it separately).



I also realize that I forgot to mention that the weekend or two before we had went to a picnic at Nonie & Poppy's house. It was fun! The kids had fun playing with their cousins and we had fun catching up with the adults.

Thus ended August...