Ga-loon

Or Lagoon, if you’re not in the habit of speaking Sadie-talk.

My parents met us at Lagoon a few days ago. It was one of those days where the stars align to make for practically perfect conditions. It was a beautiful warm day, but not too hot. And the crowds? There were none! We kept waiting for the people to show up, but even by 5:00 pm, we were still practically walking onto every ride we wanted to go on. Way fun.

And then there was Sadie. We haven’t been to Lagoon in two years, so I wondered if she would have lost some of her thrill-seeking personality in that time. Umm…wrong. That daughter of mine has NO. FEAR. She’s crazy.

Let me tell you a little story to illustrate my point, here. We had only been in the park maybe 10 minutes and were walking to the pavilions in the back to drop off our coolers and swim stuff. On our way, we passed “The Bat,” which is a semi-large rollercoaster that is fairly tame, but is still one of the ones that hangs from the track instead of sitting on top of it and entails shoulder straps. On a whim, Kevin checked it out and Sadie was almost tall enough to ride it. So we kind of sailed past the ride attendant, who luckily didn’t say anything, and got in line. Sadie got a little nervous while we waited, but when I told her I’d hold her hand, she relaxed and hopped right into her huge seat.

Waiting in line.

On the ride! (Look how tiny she looks in that thing!)

I was a little worried about her when I saw how dwarfed she was by those shoulder straps, but I shouldn’t have been. The second the ride started moving, she started laughing hysterically. And then when we went over the first drop, she stopped laughing and was totally quiet. I peeked over at her, expecting to see a look of terror, but instead saw her face plastered with a giant grin. (I think it kind of took her breath away.) Before we had even come to a stop, she was asking to do it again.

I know I said it the last time we went to Lagoon. And even the time before that. But Sadie is an adrenaline junkie. I’ve yet to see a kid who is that fearless on rides. It was, to say the least, the most entertaining part of the day. The rides were nothing compared to that priceless look of pure excitement and joy on her face for most the day.

And Ellie? Ellie wasn’t as into it as Sadie was, that’s for sure. She certainly didn’t cry (and there were plenty of other kids her age who were), and she definitely flashed some cute smiles while on the rides, but she didn’t crack up like Sadie did at that age. Which is okay. I can only handle so much fearlessness in one family.

Loving Ellie’s look of complete concentration here.

 

Would be a great family picture if we weren’t missing one family member.

 

Completely zonked.

 

The carousel was probably Ellie’s favorite. She kept saying, “yee haw!” and “Wheeeee!”

 

Grandpa and Ellie having a very serious discussion. (Actually, I think he was trying to teach her to say “choo choo” but she was looking at him like he was crazy.)

Speaking of crazy…
(love ya mom!)

 

NOW she’s saying “choo choo.” Gosh, I love that face.

 

They both loved the sound of the train whistle. As you can see.

It was such a fun time. So fun that we wore two little girls right out. Doesn’t just looking at this picture make you tired?