The 4th

Joe and the kids and I spent the 4th of July at Idlewild & Soak Zone (a family amusement park). It turned out to be a great day, despite the heat and all the people. Even with how many people were there, the wait in lines for rides wasn't bad at all. Of course, the water part of the park was the busiest...or at least it seemed that way. We got there at 10:30am, before the rides were even open (so we walked through Storybook Forest first). Joe had to leave to take Cole to his mom around 4 and took Brooke with him so she could catch a nap in the car. Ryan and I stayed at the park and had some one on one time, which was really nice. Then Joe came back and we rode some more and played some games and had dinner and stayed for the fireworks at 10. We ended up being at the park for 12 hours...a long day, but a great one :-). Here are some pictures.

The kiddos in Storybook Forest.

*Almost a great picture. LOL.

It's rare to catch Ryan smiling on a ride, even though he loves them!

Cole and Brooke on the airplanes.

And on the dragons. They rode together a lot that day!

Joe even got Ryan to ride the roller coaster! It's really not a big deal as far as roller coasters go (it's just a small wooden one), but it was a big deal for Ryan to get on :-). Even though he wasn't keen on the idea, he went without a fight and didn't freak out afterwards! I doubt he would have gone again, though. LOL.

As you can see, Brooke was NOT a fan of the slide (this was in Jumpin' Jungle in the park...they have lots of climbing things, slides, a ball pit, etc.).

See how happy she was to get out of there? LOL. This was Ryan's 2nd time down...he loved it!

This is a really big net to climb. The top is pretty steep (and high) and last year Ryan needed a lot of help to get up the top of it. He did it all on his own this year :-D.

Ryan about jumped out of his skin and flew on to my lap when the fireworks started (he calmed down quickly, but kept asking when they would be done). Brooke never flinched and she LOVED them, even though she was half asleep. LOL.

Hope everyone else had a great 4th as well!! :-)