Dutch Wonderland-Day 2

Day 2 at Dutch Wonderland: After breakfast at the hotel, we got to the park before it opened so we were one of the first through the gates. We knew exactly where we were headed since we had mapped it out last evening. We had our eyes on the old time cars. The adults wanted to ride these! The boys loved them too! Then it was back for round 2 at the bulldozers. Henry and Wesley had a little more fun second time around. Way cute!

Another fun adult ride: bumper cars! The Daddy's took a turn first, then the Mommy's got their turn. I forgot how fun and knocked around you get!

Henry enjoying the duck chase~ not sure who's chasing who! Kellan braved the frog jump ride on his own. Go Kellan!

Time for a little rest period at the Thomas Show because we didn't get enough yesterday! Sean had Wyatt and Kellan duty.

The Blair's and Burke's now have their Christmas card pictures!

Another fun adult ride~ the big slide. All the boys, big and little loved this one. And Kellan got his wish, another game = another stuffed animal!

Ok, let's sit and relax on the boat ride. Looks like everyone is smiling and having fun still.

Henry can't get enough of the choo-choos! Wyatt and Henry have turned into astronauts.

Kellan was very excited to see the "mascots" of Dutch Wonderland and gladly got his picture with them.

What was the last ride of the day? A train ride, of course! Sean is on Wyatt and Kellan duty again while Tim and I enjoyed a little time with our Henry. A super weekend, we can't wait to go back!! The boys were asleep in minutes once we got in the car.

An Evening at Dutch Wonderland

After getting somewhat settled into our hotel, and waiting out a rainstorm, we arrived to Dutch Wonderland around 4pm. That gave us 2 hours before it closed to check a few rides out before we got there the next day. That was part of the ticket deal, which I thought was a great idea! Wyatt had seen the Charlie Choo-Choo's on the map and wanted to ride it first. It required some effort, but the Daddy's were close by to lend a push.

Say Cheese boys!

On a roll, 2nd ride and the boys are ready! Henry isn't so sure.

Kellan is my little game player and was very excited to play some "carnival" games. (he often plays "carnival" at home). Whack-a-Mole it is. Yay, a stuffed puppy for both. Just what we need, another stuffed animal!

Adults can also go on most of these rides, but as you can see, it looks quite hilarious! Tim was the lucky one on the monster trucks. Henry was happy to have a buddy to ride with.

Every boy loves him a bulldozer ride!

Last ride for the evening, the pandas. Wyatt and Kellan happily rode these around and around! We headed for some dinner at CiCi's Pizza before going back to the hotel.

Winding down and tucked in. Fun day with the Blair's!

Allll Aboard!!!

Destination: Lancaster, PA to ride Thomas the Train and go to the amusement park Dutch Wonderland with our good friends, the Blair's. We geared up the night before by doing our Thomas Train puzzle. The boys were just a bit excited! I couldn't believe how "real" he looked when we first saw him coming down the tracks. Even I was super excited!

Wyatt and Kellan catching a glimpse from the fence. How fun! Unfortunately Sir Topham Hatt was off duty at the time we were there. Plus there was a long, long line!

A few quick family photos with Thomas in the background. We chose not to wait in that long photo line and got our own. Not too bad.

Here we go boys, hang on! We have 3 conductors and one happy rider!

Wyatt and Kellan checking the lay of the land. It was a fun ride through some corn fields, then back again.

Tickets please!

After the train ride, we strolled around the many toy shops, concession stands and one very nice tent that had music for the kids. All 4 boys got up on stage, played some instruments and just watched the jolly guy sing.

Next stop: hotel check in and off to the amusement park.

Homeward Bound

Off we go to Ohio to visit the Lanz and Burke families for a very quick weekend. We haven't been "home" since the first of June and the boys have been missing their cousins, g'mas and g'pas! I always pack a picnic lunch to eat along the way at one of the rest stops. It cuts down our traveling time and cost considerably!

First stop: the Lanz home. G'ma Lanz had dinner planned for everyone, like she usually does! So nice to see everyone at one house, plus the chaos of all 10 cousins running around is pretty sweet too! Brendan and Devan were acting very silly with the girls princess dress up jewelry. Little do they know that these photos keep for a very long time!! :)

Noah, Devan and Jayde also spent the night at G'mas so this is them at breakfast the next morning. Noah took on the challenge of getting squirmy Henry dressed. Henry giggled the whole time!

We went to Jayde and Devan's soccer games Saturday morning for a bit. Jayde won both her games. I'm sure her big cheering section helped! Devan wasn't finished with his game yet before we had to leave. Kellan later said, after we were back home, that going to their soccer games was one of his favorite things we did.

The cheering section: Kellan, G'ma and Henry

One of the fun parts of living in the country: a riding lawn mower.

Next stop: the Dineen's. Brian is one of Tim's very good friends from grade school that lives in Lakewood. We finally made a point to go visit since they hadn't seen the boys since Henry was an infant. Kellan and Henry made immediate friends with his daughters, Maggie(7) and Erin(4). They were all in tears when we had to leave.

After the Dineen's, we headed down the road to the Nortz's house where we had dinner with all the Burke's. It was a very long day, so the boys were a little cranky, but pulled through with some outdoor fun, piano playing, time with G'ma, and wrestling with U. Pat.

Henry was so tired that he fell asleep within minutes of getting in the car to head to G'ma Burke's. I knew I should have put him in his jammies before leaving, but it was a short car ride. He stayed asleep through a diaper and clothes change. Slept the whole night without a peep in his pack-n-play!

Tim went to the Brown's home opener on Sunday. One of the very few games he attends. It was a gorgeous sunny day. He had fun reconnecting with all his Browns buddies and got to meet Reggie Rucker(a former Browns player) at the game. I stayed with the boys at G'ma and G'pa Burkes.

A touching tribute of 9-11 at the game.