Most of our Spring Break was spent in Nevada. And according to the original plan we would have gone back home to Twin Falls after we were done with Ely. But then we realized that Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington had it's opening day on the Saturday of our Spring Break. Since we bought season passes to Lagoon this year it made sense to tack Lagoon to the end of our vacation.
My sister Emily also bought season passes for her family this year. They were also going to go on opening day. So on Friday night we slept over at Emily's house.
On Saturday morning I went to a nearby store and picked up a few snacks and things for the day. Emily let put her stuff in her cooler which was nice because we'd left our freezer bag at a hotel earlier in the trip.
Back at Emily's house everyone was so excited! Around 9:30 we piled into the cars. Bridger and Hazel rode with us. We drove 11 minutes to get to Lagoon from Emily's house. 
Here's our whole group walking toward the front gates. We had 4 adults and 6 of Emily's kids 4 of mine and 1 of Asher's friends. So I guess that totals up to 15 people. But I never counted while we were there.
Brandon had done his homework and had already taken pictures of all our family and uploaded them to the Lagoon app. So we were able to get right in line to enter the park. Emily's family had to go into the line to get their pictures taken. That meant we were in the park ahead of Emily. Since she had 7 kids to get into the park and we only had 4 we offered to take the coolers and other food to the pavilions so she didn't have to worry about that. We put them at the Juniper Terrace in honor of baby Juniper.
Then it was time to PLAY. The kids had never been to Lagoon before. We've driven by it for years and I've always said, "When you are about 10 we'll go there." Well, this year their average age is actually 10. (11 + 11 + 10 + 8 = 40 and 40/4 = 10) That, combined with Emily moving so close to Lagoon and buying her own passes we decided this was the year.
The last time Brandon and I went to Lagoon was the year we were married so it's been 15 years since we were there.
We were determined to spend the whole day at the park and ride as many rides as possible. But we also knew we had all season so we could also take it slow.
The first ride we went on was the Bat because it was near where we'd stashed the coolers. This was also such a fun introduction to roller coasters.
The way it worked out Charlotte and Lydia ended up on the ride before the rest of us. I tried to get a picture of them as they zoomed back. When they came back from the ride they both were wide eyed and grinning.
Here's Derrick and Veronica waiting eagerly for their ride. They got the front seats.
The ride was such a good first ride. It was big enough to be thrilling, but gentle enough that it didn't scare the kids off of other roller coasters.
I figured out that this was my 8th time ever going to Lagoon. I'd gone once when I was 6 or 7, once when I was 12, twice when I was 15, once when I was 17, another time when I was around 19, and the time with Brandon when I was 22.
Because I'd gone so infrequently throughout my life I can remember distinct things about each of those trips. But since we have plans to go so often this year I don't think I'll have very distinct memories of each visit.
I do want to remember as much as possible about this first visit with the kids. So indulge me while I take you along each ride we went on this day.
After The Bat we went over to a dragon ride. It was in the "little kid ride" area. But the ride ended up packing quite a punch as a spun faster and faster. We all laughed a lot on the ride.
Then we went over to the roller coaster Bombora. This was another fun one that was thrilling without being scary.
Our next ride was the Swings. I remembered riding this when I was about 6. I remember my Aunt Lori sneaking my 4 year old sister Lindsey on this ride even though Lindsey was slightly too short for the ride. Lori's technique had been to distract the ride operator from Lindsey's height by asking if Lindsey was allowed to ride the swings with Jelly Shoes on her feet.
When we were in line for the Swings we realized that some of Emily's kids were ahead of us in line. They'd finally made it into the park and this was their second ride.
I don't remember being scared of the swings as a kid, but it's one of the ones that terrifies me as an adult. I do NOT trust the little metal chains to hold me, and I kept imagining the chains snapping. But I made it through the ride.
When we were done with the Swings we went over to the Tidal Wave ship. Emily's kids had already ridden that so they went off to another ride. We'd already decided that since today was the last day of our family vacation we wouldn't try to do to much with Emily's family. So it wasn't a big deal to split up from them.
The Tidal Wave is a ship that rocks back and forth. We sat toward the back which is somewhere I'm not sure I've ever sat because I didn't realize how vertical the ride would end up. Wow, it was intense! But so fun.
Derrick saw the train and wanted to ride that, but the girls weren't interested in it. They wanted to go on the carousel. So we split up for a bit. I took the girls and Brandon took Derrick.
The girls were really excited to get onto the Carousel. Here's Veronica on the Lion.
Lydia on a horse.
Here's Charlotte.
But when the carousel started they realized that maybe they are a little old for it. It wasn't quite as fun as they expected.
And here's a picture that Brandon took of Derrick on the train. Derrick LOVED it of course.
When we finished with the Carousel I called Brandon to see where he was. He was still with the train so we got in line for the Colossus which had a relatively short line.
When I was a kid Colossus was THE scariest ride at Lagoon. It seemed HUGE and had those scary loops where you went UPSIDE down. My Aunt Lori had tried to talk me onto the ride when I was 6, but I would not ride it. When I was 12 it took a lot of courage to get on that ride.
But these days the Colossus doesn't seem too big. Wicked and Cannibal tower over Colossus. While we were waiting in the line I kept waiting for the girls to get scared of the ride, but they didn't. When we got into the cars they didn't get scared. When we went up the chain hill I thought for sure I'd hear them start saying they were scared, but they didn't. I was thinking, "Come one guys! This is Colossus! You should be terrified." But they were fine. When we made it to the top there was about a second before the cars were let go. In that second I said, "Merry Christmas!" because tickets to Lagoon had been our big Christmas Present. And then we went on the ride and everyone started screaming. But they were happy screams.
After we got off Colossus we met up with Brandon and Derrick. It was nearly lunch time so we headed back to the Juniper Terrace and found our food. I kept feeling like my family was some sort of elite team. We were able to move through the crowds quickly. I told the kids that it was like we were a rowing team. They didn't get the reference, but I still thought it was fitting.
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Here's a picture when Emily's family showed up.
We ate and then reapplied sunscreen, refilled our water bottles, and were back out for more fun. Our next stop was the Colossus so Brandon and Derrick could ride it. I took this picture so you could see it with Wicked behind it. You can also see the crowds. This was opening day so the park was very crowded. It was also much hotter than I'd expected it to be in March. Brandon remarked that none of the trees had leaves yet so that was probably one reason it seemed hot.
I took this picture while we waited in line.
Colossus Part II was just as fun as the first time.
After Colossus we went over to Wicked and got in line for that ride. This was the newest ride when Brandon and I had been here in 2007. I'd only ever been on it once, and I was excited to go on it again. The kids were also excited, but they didn't really know what to expect. When we did get on the ride and it took off without a chain hill they were all caught off guard.
As we whipped up and over the tower like track I realized that scary roller coasters have a whole new level of terror when you are a parent. I was afraid of flying out of my seat, but I was pretty certain the seat could hold me. But I couldn't know if Veronica was secure in her seat. I kept picturing her flying out of her seat. The whole ride I kept thinking, "What are we doing? Why am I putting my family in danger like this? If we die I guess we'll all die together."
But when we got off the ride we were all save and my brain could relax again. Derrick's hair had been blown so hard that it was now standing up straight. I tried to take a picture of it, but my phone was having issues.
Our next ride was the Cliff Hanger, but it had some sort of malfunction and we were something like the test ride because it didn't do anything other than take us up and down a few times. I assured the kids it was usually much better.
Then we went to the Spider. This is another one that I've only ever ridden a few times. That was a blast to go on. The kids loved it.
The kids saw this little Ferris wheel so that was the next ride they wanted to go on. I wasn't really interested in it and neither was Brandon so we sat on some benches and watched the kids as they waited in line.
After that the kids wanted to go to the other side of the park. And they wanted to take the sky ride to get there. I am TERRIFIED of the sky ride, but I thought I'd give it another try. I shouldn't have. I rode it with Derrick and had one hand gripping the bar and the other half gripping into Derrick's thigh. Every little bounce and every little wobble had me shutting my eyes.
The plan had been to get in line for Cannibal, but Veronica looked at it and was decided she wasn't quite old enough for that ride yet. So we decided to go an a ride we'd seen while we were on the sky ride. It was called the Air Race. It was like planes that flew around and went upside down. It was really fun and was probably one of our favorites of the whole day.
The next ride was the Jet Star. I have happy memories of riding this with my high school boyfriend, (before he was my boy friend) and later with Brandon. But I also remember that this roller coaster hurts a bit. When we were all done with the ride I was like, "Yep, still hurts." But the kids liked it.
I'd told the kids that one of my favorite rides was the Screamer. It used to be over by the Colossus, but at some point it was moved to the other side of the park. I'd thought it was completely gone so I was happy to see it again.
We went on it and it was fun. But this late in the day, after spinning on so many other rides, it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience.
When we got off the Screamer we had time for about one more ride before the park closed at 7:00. But when we got in line and watched that ride spin we had a collective moment where we all said, "Nope."
We started walking out of the park and saw that Dracula's castle had a short line. So we got in line for that. The kids went in cars ahead of us and Brandon and I went in after them. As we went through I was like, "Oh I hope the kids were okay with all these scary things." When we got out they were all like, "Oh that was scary!" But they'd had fun.
By this time it was nearly 7:00 so we headed out of the park and met up with Emily's family at the cars. Everyone had had a great day.
On the way back to Emily's house Bridger and Hazel talked about their favorite rides. It was fun to compare notes.
We went back to Emily's house and hung out for just a little bit. We could have stayed another night, but I was anxious to get back to our house and our own beds.
So we grabbed our stuff and packed the car one last time. We said goodbye to Emily and then drove off. We stopped at McDonalds for our traditional end-of-vacation burgers and then drove home to Twin Falls.
The kids watched Sabrina the Teenage Witch while we drove. They finished Season 2. That means we watched two whole seasons on this rode trip.
We made it back home a little before 11:00. The kids went to bed super fast and Brandon and I weren't too far behind.
It felt so good to be home after such a fun week and an especially busy day.
