Let’s Ride!

To say Ben has had a busy week would be an understatement. In the past 14 days, Ben has managed to cram in a whole summer’s worth of rides! After two trips to the carnival, a day at Storybook Land, and another trek out to Dutch Wonderland, Ben still wants more rides, he just can’t get enough. And he is fearless,ready to jump on anything that he is tall enough to ride. I had too many pictures from the past week, so I had to narrow it down to just a dozen which you can click to see at the end of this post.

First up was the carnival. This year we remembered tickets were cheaper if you buy them ahead of time, so we loaded up on them, grabbed Ben’s cousins Emily & Ryan, and headed out for some rides! Some of Ben’s favorites included the tea-cups (he has been talking about these since he saw them on his Disney video, so it was fun to finally get him on them), the merry-go-round, the ladybugs, and the cars & motorcycles that go round and round. Ben’s partner in crime, Ryan, was along for most of the  rides.Daddy even took Ben through the fun house (although it didn’t seem to include much actual ‘fun’, but Ben seemed to think it was exciting to walk through a maze of dirty mirrors,  up some dark narrow steps, and then slide down a spiral slide that we barely fit on).

At the end of last week, it was off to Storybook land for the little guy. Mommy and Daddy sat this one out while Gram, Aunt Julie, and of course Ryan and Emily went along. Ben had a blast! They hit pretty much every ride in the park, with Ben hopping on anything that spun, whirled, or flew. By far, Ben’s favorite was the ‘Roller Poster’ (as Ben liked to call it). This was more than just a kiddy roller coaster that goes in a circle, this was a full-fledged coaster with twists and turns and drops! Apparently Ben could have rode this all day, squealing and laughing during each and every trip around the track. He still can’t stop talking about it, and Daddy & Mommy look forward to taking Ben on bigger and faster ‘roller posters’ as he gets older.

Finally, in celebration of Mommy’s birthday, we once again packed up Gram’s van and headed out to Dutch country to that magical place that is Dutch Wonderland! You may remember from the blog last year that this is a special place for us, and this year was no different. Again we lucked out with the weather and lack of crowds. This day could take up a whole post on its own, but I’ll try to get through the highlights.

We were barely through the front gates when Ben started pointed and asking to ride the choochoo. After lathering up in sun tan lotion, we made our way into the park. This year, Ben could ride a whole lot more, and he made the most of it. We checked off rides on the log flume, the giant slides, the spaceships, the bulldozers, the sky tram, the monorail, the choochoo, the spinning turtles, and the antique cars, just to name a few.

Later in the day, we made it over to the water park, where Ben got to ride down the big tube slide in a raft with mommy, and then played in all of the kiddie pools and fountains (until he announced that he was done and wanted to go back on more rides!) We were in the park for about 9 hours, and Ben didn’t let himself nap for one minute. I could just watch that little guy smile and laugh on rides all day every day.

Ben had some great trips down the giant slide with his Mommy (apparently Daddy and cousin Ryan were too heavy to give them much of a race!) He also  was absolutely beaming as we took the train ride around the park (waving at everyone that we passed by.) But once again, my personal favorite was the road trip Ben I took driving the antique cars around the track. I remember going on this very ride with my Dad way back when, so it means a lot for me to take my little guy on it and continue the tradition. This year was even better because Ben was big enough that I could let him try and steer himself. After playing behind the steering wheel of my car in the driveway at home, this was like a dream come true for him. I know it won’t be long before he is too old to think it is cool to drive in these little cars with his dad anymore, so I cherish every ride that we get together. All in all, it was another incredible day in Dutch country, and another fabulous birthday for Mommy! One again we created some priceless family memories together.

So that in a nutshell was Ben’s week of rides and amusement parks. You can see some pictures of all the fun here. Hopefully we can get Ben back on some rides before the end of the summer, but this was all really just a warm up for the real rides to come later in the fall, when it is off to Disney World. From what I can see, Ben is more than ready, and we can’t wait!

On a sad side note, R.I.P. Michael Jackson. As I am typing this, MTV is running all of his music videos, and it seems strange to me that Ben will never really understand who this weird guy with the white glove and the crazy dance moves really is. His songs were the soundtrack to many of my childhood memories (I even had the red zipper jacket and parachute pants at one point!) I like to remember him that way instead of for the bizarre turn his life  later took. Hopefully he is finally at peace.

Have a great week everyone, and be sure to enjoy and appreciate every moment of it!