Shantel and I had talked about doing something super fun for Lydia to celebrate finishing her Gymnastics preschool and getting to the end/finishing the online preschool. We also talked about how much she would LOVE lagoon (every time we drive past, she talks about how much she wants to go there) this year. However, with Caleb, it would be a lot more managing to take the whole family, so we decided that I would get to take her while Shantel hung out with Caleb and Austin.
We had such a fun day. I got some good pictures, but mostly just enjoyed the day with her and left my phone in my picket. I pretty much tried to let Lydia lead the day and do what she wanted. We rode so many rides that I can't even name them all. We picked up a map when we first got there and Lydia was so cute and wanted to carry it around. She would check it throughout the day and ask where things were and really loved it. I failed to get a picture of her with it, but here is the map (we brought it home so she could show Shantel everything).
The first couple rides that she picked flying type rides that went up and down as you pulled the steering stick back. Then we went over to Puff the little dragon roller coast and she loved them.
We really did anything she wanted, so if she changed her mind while we were in line, we just changed course and did something else. When she wanted to just walk along balancing on the edge of the curb for 10 minutes on the way to the next ride, we did that.
After those first rides, we went to Bombora which is one of the bigger roller coasters she could do. That was my favorite thing of the whole day. I would spend the whole time just watching her face which was just so joyful and happy and full of elation and excitement. I wish I could just bottle that up. The first time we went we got the first row which was so much fun. We went right back on it and she said that she wanted to get the front again. I tried to let her know that we would have to be really lucky to get the front again- and it was just our luck we did. This is Lydia waiting to get on. We rode Bombora 4 or 5 times and it was so much fun.
The other big favorite of the day was the Bat. We rode that about 3 or 4 times and at the end of the day when Lydia got to pick on last thing, that was her choice. It is a suspended air roller coaster, so your legs just hang off the end of the seat. The way the harness works, I could not really watch Lydia during it, but she must have loved it.
Some of our other favorite rides were: Titl-a-whirl, Scamper (bumper cars), Tidal Wave, Musik Express (spins in super fast circle), Merry-Go-Round, Puff the Little Fire Dragon, Sky ride, and the train.
Lydia went on the bumper cars and halfway through her car stopped going and she could not get it to start and when she got off, she just hung her head so dejected. However, she said she wanted to try agin, so we went back later and right the beginning it was not going, but she got it going and when it ended she came running out with the biggest smile and was so excited. The Musik Express was fun because it spins and pushes her to the outside right next to me and then she spent the whole timing using the seat belt to try to climb back to the other edge, it was so funny.
The ride that terrified me was the sky ride that takes you in cars from one side of the park to the other. I know, super weird, but it freaks me out. However, Lydia really wanted to do it so we hopped on. She absolutely loved it. She loved looking across and seeing everything. I was scared to death the whole way.
After the Sky Ride we went to ride the train. It ended up being super awesome because Lydia loved seeing all the animals (it is the 2nd largest Zoo in the state). From the Tigers to the Kangaroos, Lydia thought it was so neat.
Of course we could not miss out on the carousel either.
I am a huge believer that any time you go to a conference, or on a work trip that you determine how good it was based primarily on the food and I think that holds true to Lydia too. For lunch we went out to the car and had sandwiches, chips, granola bars and lots of water. However, I promised Lydia we could buy dinner at Lagoon. When she got hungry we looked at all of our options and she decided that she wanted...a giant corn dog. Actually she wanted a corn dog and pizza, I told her that we could get the corn dog first and then pizza. She loved the corn dog and thought it was so fun. She was full after that (full for food, not ice cream- see below) and so we actually ended up picking up a little Cesar pizza on the way home and she ate it in the car to make sure she got both her corn dog and pizza.
Lydia also really wanted ice cream and so we found the thing she wanted very most and we shared a gigantic snow cone.
The other thing that Lydia really wanted to do was play one of the games and win a prize. Towards the end of the night we found a wack-a-mole game and Lydia and I played against each other. It was actually pretty hard for a 5 year old to hit them moles before they popped down. We played for a while and Lydia got 4 and then I finally finished and got to 10. Lydia saw that she had 4 and I had a 1 so she beat me 4 to 1. She was so happy and excited. It was one of my favorite parts of the day playing against Lydia and then seeing how much fun she had and how excited she was to win a prize. She picked a unicorn and quickly named her Sparkle. She loves this little Unicorn and loves telling everyone that she won it.
Here is a picture.
I told Lydia she could stay as long as she wanted, but about 7, she decided that she wanted to do one more ride and go home. She picked the bat for her last ride and climbed in on her own and she loved it.
I'm so grateful that I got to spend the whole day at Lagoon with my little girl. She was fun and energetic and loved it so much and I loved being with her all day. She is such a wonderful girl.
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