Labor Day at Lagoon

Here it is... the real reason we go to Lagoon.
We were so excited to have an old time photo with Peter in it, and especially happy that Peter was happy in it.  I'll post all of them, because we were pretty thrilled with how they all turned out.

 It's looks like all of our excess family picture taking over the years has paid off because when the photographer said smile... Man! They smiled.

We're all about division and resentment in our family.  I particularly love George in this picture.

The only real disagreement was who would be Union and who would be Confederate.  I'm not sure why Clark and I were the obvious and uncontested Rebels.  But there was no disagreement there.  Everyone else wanted to be Union.  No, we demanded Elinor and George join us.
Clark had just stuck his tongue out at Abe and was losing his tough guy persona.  Abe lost it right after the picture was snapped.

I'm just going to say it-- with the exception of Cannon, the Confederates pulled off "really mean" a lot better than the Union.

The rest of our time at Lagoon was very enjoyable as well, except that Peter was sick and I'm afraid he's probably going to get worse before he gets better.  As of this evening he had a cough, runny nose, fever and throwing up.  Poor little guy.

These were the four brave souls who went on the insane new ride, Cannibal.  We got to Lagoon very early and ran straight to it to avoid the ridiculously long line.  Faith was brave and went on it, but I understand there were tears involved while riding the elevator up to it.

Cannon, George and I loved the Sky Ride.  Abe doesn't like heights, so he's happy to stay on the ground while we go up high.

I like this sneaky picture Abe took.  The older kids are a little sensitive about having their pictures taken, so Abe stealthily took this over his should while we were walking and the kids were telling me about Cannibal.    By the way, it is no small thing when your older kids wish to talk to you.  Not much makes me happier.

And it is no small thing to be walking around with your family and realize you are not surrounded by lots of little kids anymore.  I mean, we do still have little kids and I enjoy them immensely, but we're walking around with a lot of big people now as well.  They are entertaining and witty and helpful and wonderful, but it will still take some getting used to.

 Faith's favorite ride, by far, is Bombora.  It's a pretty mild, short roller coaster and Faith loves to ride it over and over again.  And her daddy is so nice to her, that he goes on it over and over with her.

Check out George in this picture!!! Ha, ha ha!  I love it!  Don't worry, he wasn't traumatized.

The next one was "Puff" the kiddie roller coaster.

I saw George ride this one, and truthfully, he seemed much more traumatized by Puff.  It is a pretty loud little roller coaster.

Peter rode the chicken on the Merry-Go-Round and he did get pretty nervous when it started moving.  

When I go to Lagoon, I can't help but people watch.  There is just too much opportunity to look at people and think about what makes them tick.  I will not do them justice here, but I want to draw attention to the group of people I am the most impressed with at the park.  I call them, "The Dads".  These are the men who are still young enough that they could still be going to Lagoon just to enjoy themselves, but they are carrying babies, pushing strollers, holding hands of their little daughters, going on rides with their sons.  "The Moms" are just as busy, but somehow it seems so natural for the moms to be caring for their little ones.  I see it all the time-- I live it.  But to see a father, who spends so much time out in the world, providing for his family, being so gentle and kind and sacrificing with his family is a magnificent thing.  I suppose I could write much more about that, but perhaps that's for another post on another evening.

I'll just say, Abe is the ultimate DAD and he is the greatest blessing to our family.

The haunted house!  

 The family selfie on the train.  The older kids had all been off on their own on big rides and they were ready for a slower pace with the family on the train.  

I think if I could ever pause time, I'd like to right about now.

Abe went on Wicked (another big roller coaster) for the first time (and the last time) with Bethany so she didn't have to go alone.  That's love.

Elinor has officially overtaken Bethany in height.  The girls went on about four different roller coasters in a row together.  

In the end, everyone had a fun day and got to go on all the rides they wanted to-- and then some.  And then everyone was very happy to go home and catch American Ninja Warrior on TV.  It's silly, but we enjoy it.