Summer Fun: Week 3

It has taken me this long to post about our week last week because I had to get my pictures developed. My camera decided to have a dead battery right in the middle of our trip to Kansas City and I had to buy a disposable one...do you know how hard it is to use one of those after having a digital one for so many years...WOW!

Anyways, we had a good time last week. The week first started out by my dad and I painting the downstairs living room. Color choice: Denim Blue! Very nice...I really like it!

But, the highlight of the week was our trip to World/Oceans of Fun! I debated and debated as to whether or not I should include Brooke in this trip. After an afternoon at my mother-in-law's pool where she was extremely whiney and the fit she threw at the Wichita Zoo, I made up my mind that she was NOT going. I felt somewhat bad not including her, but she wouldn't remember it anyways...and although I knew she would have fun, she would also get tired and would make it less enjoyable for the other two and myself...and everyone else going! So, she got to spend a couple days with Aunt Mindy instead.

The trip began with Oceans of Fun on Thursday. We made some really good choices for this one...
1. we rented a cabana...awesome - as it was a place we could leave our stuff and not worry about it, all our inner tube rentals were included free and it didn't hurt to have a place to get out of the sun. Cost: $40 per cabana (we had to rent 2 since there were 8 of us)

2. we ordered our food ahead of time...4 cheeseburgers, 4 orders of fries and a choice of pie for each of us. This was awesome too as we didn't have to wait in line - it was delivered right to our cabana and we didn't have to bring extra money for food. Cost: $37.99 per cabana.

3. we also purchased unlimited drink wrist bands. I think this was a perk as part of the cabana, but it was so nice to be able to get a drink whenever we wanted and all we had to do was show our wristband. Plus, we didn't have to worry about wasting money when we needed just a quick drink. Cost: $5 per person.

So, total we spent about $15 bucks per person at Oceans of fun (not counting our tickets to get in the park). But, it was not too bad for what we got!!!

the group

waiting for the park to open

We had so much fun there...we rode EVERY water ride and didn't have to wait in very long lines at all. We hung out in the wave pool quite a bit too. The girls loved it and I have to admit, mom loved it too! We pretty much opened the place up and closed it down.

Colton on the slide

Kelsi and I after sliding down a ride

This is Ashlyn (on the yellow inner tube) just after she rode the Aruba Tuba ride. She was so funny when she says (as she is coming out of the tunnel) "here comes Ashlyn"!
Maddie, Ashlyn & Colton at Paradise Falls Maddie trying the obstacle course

Colton & Ashlyn giving it a try

After a full day of swimming and sun and after showers, we went out to dinner at this really cool restaurant called Chappell's Restaurant and Sports Museum. It was such a cool place. The owner was there and was so nice to the kids...you could tell he was a grandpa! Anyways, he has so much sports memorabilia that there was not one spot on the wall or ceiling that wasn't covered...even in the bathrooms. The women's restroom was covered with female athletes, including a lot of pictures from the All American Women's League (think...The League of their Own movie). And, so much of it was autographed. Anyways, I would highly recommend...friendly staff, great food, reasonably priced...and many, many conversations pieces to look at!

On Friday, we spent most of the day at World's of Fun.

I have to admit...I liked Ocean's better, but mostly because it was SOOOO hot and you could get cool by being in the water. But, while at World's of Fun, we did spend most of our time at Camp Snoopy with the little kids.




My too older nieces went and rode most of the big rides by themselves; however, we did meet up and ride a couple together...like Fury of the Nile (to help us get cooled off)....





and THE MAMBA!!! I'm not sure what got into me, but I can tell you this...I was regretting my decision on the very slow trek up that huge first drop...over 200 feet by the way!


But, I did enjoy it. AND, Maddie was tall enough (and brave enough) to ride the Mamba with us. It was terrifying and thrilling all in the same!

getting ready to go

So in honor of Maddie's very first roller coaster ride, I did go ahead and purchase that terribly overpriced snapshot of us on the ride (you know, the ones they try to sell at the end of the ride). But honestly, I really couldn't pass it up...Maddie's face is priceless!!!

So, we had a wonderful trip and we were really glad to spend some extra time with Grandma Johnson, Aunt Theresa and our cousins, Kelsi, Amanda and Colton!