The Land of Make Believe

Um…first, there needs to be a disclaimer made: I like amusement parks. I like water parks. BUT...and this is a fairly large “but”…i am NOT a fan of the combo park! Why combine? Can't it just be one or the other? Why do you need both? It makes for outfit chaos! I can't ride a roller coaster in a bathing suit and generally speaking, they don't let you on water rides without a bathing suit! Sooooooooooooo…Moms (like me) gets to tote around big bulky backpacks and have everyone stick additional stuff in it making it bigger and bulkier! Sorry...I'm stepping down from my soapbox now.

You can tell, right off the bat that keeping a positive, fun, excited outlook as we pulled out of the driveway today was going to be a challenge for me. I figure, a quick trip through the Dunkin Donuts’ Drive Thru would be sure to help...or not! As we pull up to DD, a chorus of "I want a donut" sang out from the back of the van. After convincing Z&T that LoMB would have PLENTY of sugar waiting for them, we grabbed our donut-less coffee order and made or way to the highway. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh...caffeine..there is peace in my world. Or not! "Ummmm...I forgot my shoes!" Yup. You read that right. My almost first grader FORGOT to put shoes on. Lemme tell u how glad I was that we were only 10 minutes into our trip.

Fast forward an hour and 10 minutes...skip right over the 1001 times I was asked when we were going to be there...and we were at LoMB. Sun-screened and ready for fun, we decided we’d hit “dry rides” before lunch…eat…then head to the water park. We surveyed the map and planned out our route through the dry rides.

(Oh...did I mention that the triplets stayed home with Becca-the August Nanny?)

I should also eat crow a little here: LoMB has their act together when it comes to families. There’s a HUGE picnic area (inside the park) that people just go to, find a table and “claim it” by putting down their coolers, BACKPACKS, and any other bags they don’t want to carry around a park. I didn’t have to carry ANYTHING but the camera…in my POCKET!

What I realized is that spinney, rotating, rising and lowering rides are ALL the same…and they’re made for people UNDER 30! I rode on one spinning dinosaur ride and it took me 2 hours to recover.

Dry Ride Highlights:
* Zoe riding Tilt-a-Whirl all by herself…and raising her hands over her head!

* Ty convincing Zoe to ride the Free Fall with him…and the thrill on their faces as they dropped that first dip.

After a nice lunch and reapplying the sunscreen, we headed off to the water rides. The kids had a great time. The water was cold, but it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining. It was warm (as long as you weren’t wet…and in the shade!) We ran into friends from church. What are the odds? Kevin and 3 of his kids were there doing just what we were doing…squeezing all they could out of summer. Kyle & Collin are twins…a little older than Ty, but the three boys get along great and truly enjoy spending time together. Samantha is also a little older than Zoe, but again, they play so well together. And then there’s Dillon. Older than our kids, but a joy to be with. Since the twins weren’t interested in getting in the water, we took Sam & Dillon into the water park with us for a bit. It was great.

I have to say, I enjoyed our day! My only complaint…and I do mean ONLY…was that there was a DIRT FLOOR at LoMB. Are you kidding me? Does someone not realize that Water Park + Dirt = Mud? As we were driving home, I felt like I had rolled around in a dirt pile! But the day was great. It was fun. The kids had fun. I laughed a lot. We have some great memories (like Ice Cream for dinner). I’d even consider going back!

Water Park Highlight:
* The "Side-Winder". Basically, it's a "half pipe" for water tubes! There was NO WAY I was going on it, but I managed to sucker, Zoe, Ty, and Shane, into going...