Amish Country Part 2

On Father's Day, we headed out to Dutch Wonderland.  OH, was I ever excited for this day.  I was equal parts excited for the experience that my girls were about to have, and nervous that this park wouldn't live up to my glorious memories of it.   We went here when I was their age, a few years in a row.  My memories were in pieces, but crystal clear.  And I've been excited for about a year to have our kids relive this adorable park.

Well...I'll let the picture do the talking.

Here are the girls on the very first ride. The had no idea what was about the happen.  They didn't know why we were putting them in this little cart and buckling them in and walking away.  Their faces show how nervous they were.  I knew Reilly would LOVE it, but Reagan is hit or miss.  She is afraid of tiny ants and certain fuzzy toys, but she will climb to the highest point of a jungle gym and try to jump down.  There was a 50% chance that she would love every ride, and 50% chance that she would cry hysterically.

VICTORY!

Oh, was this ever the happiest moment of their lives.  We were laughing so hard watching them, that we were crying.

They were laughing so hard they could hardly breathe.  This ride was called "Whip It" and basically whipped them around in a circle.  It was so simple, and so joyful.

I mean, these faces!!

The girls on the rocket ship ride.  These rides were all perfect for their size, it was so cute to see them go on them together.

Going on a tea-cup style ride with Daddy.  This day was so perfect, there were no lines at all and the weather was beautiful.

Mommy got to go on the Jeeps!

Could you die? I could die.

Reilly had seen pictures of the "colorful slides" on their website, and was super excited about them.  Reagan went on with her BFF, Papa.

And Reilly and Daddy went on together.  Reilly saw this picture of her and Daddy and declared that this was the "funnest day of her life".

There was a log flume!  I might have been talking about the log flume all day long.  I love me a good log flume.  Just the right amount of fun without the scary factor.

How cute are they!

By the way, I think the following picture should be either an advertisement for this park, or a PSA for grandparenting.  I mean, have you seen happier people?!

 

Family Flume Ride! Minus little man.

I could have rode that all day, so much fun.

 

The following picture is so special.  We have the same one of me and my siblings when we were wee ones. 

And just LOOK at Reilly and Declan's faces.  They are just the spitting image of each other.

Daddy and his kiddies on his day. :)

There were these strange angry Amish statues.  So we posed accordingly to fit in with the locals. I mean, those Amish are kind of an angry people in general.  Seeing one of them smiling is as rare as seeing one on a cell phone (which we did see, by the way).

 

We couldn't get this boy to stop smiling, though. :)

There was a section of the park that had dinosaurs that were giant, moving, and made quite realistic noises.  Reagan was none too pleased.  She was hysterical, because she wouldn't say anything or outwardly cry, but she just kept casually walking behind us, keeping her distance, hiding behind our legs, and throwing those dinos some serious shade. 

Here she is giving the T Rex the eyes.

She kept close to Papa to make sure no one messed with her.

Speaking of Papa, you might say he and Reagan became somewhat attached on this trip.  As in, Reagan REFUSED to hold anyone's hand except his.  And waited for him wherever she went.

As we were leaving, she was exhausted and way overdue for her nap.  We were walking, and Papa stopped to grab a water.  I tried to get her to walk with us, and she said, "NO. I wait for Papa."  And she stood here by herself staring at him buy his water.

It was hysterical.  Then she took his hand and continued walking, with her BFF.

 

(By the way, this isn't angry Reagan, this is TIRED Reagan.  They are easily confused, because as she gets tired, she appears angrier and angrier.  She is such a hilarious child.  She isn't even fussy when she is tired, she just gets angry LOOKING.  Okay, maybe a little grumpy. I don't know anyone like her, I swear I don't know where she gets it. :)  She'll fare much better when she can have a latte with Mama. 

One more Amish family picture, because obviously.  By the time we woke up our last morning, Reilly asked me to put her hair in a "lower bun like the Amish girls".  It'll be a trend guys.

The park even has Princesses and Princes now!  We had to RUN this girl down, it didn't seem like she wanted to be stopped for pictures.  She had 2 bodyguards and was booking through the park.  I think she had a storytime destination, but I was looking for this chick all day, and there was no way we were letting her get away!  The girls we so excited to meet Miss Brooke in person!

Now for memories sake, I'll share a not-so-pleasant part of our trip: we kind of got in a car accident.  We were all perfectly safe and fine in the end, thank GOD in Heaven.  But it was upsetting, obviously, to be hit by someone with all the kids in the car.  Two car collided right in front of us, and then one of the cars swung around and hit us.  We are so thankful that no one was injured at all.  However, our car had to be towed (hours back home), we had to get a rental car (in farm country), and it started down pouring as soon as the accident happened.  Oh, and we had arrived in Lancaster only 2 hours before this pleasant event.  BUT, someonthing good did come out of it - I officially have fallen in complete love with a mommy mini van. I had to drive one for a month, and I never want another car in my life, for real.

So, aside from a small (giant) setback (headache), our trip to Lancaster was amazing.  We loved every minute and were planning our trip back as we were leaving.  We loved everything from the strange foods, to the farms, to the beautiful hotel, to the homemade everything you can imagine, to the clip-clop of the horse and buggies while we slept.  Such a simple kind of fun, this place. Such sweet memories with my loved ones!