The State Fair, Times 2

Yah, we're State Fair people.  I find that either people love the fair or hate the fair - there's no middle ground.  We love it, despite the fact that it's basically the same thing every year, it is ridiculously expensive, it's crowded and not the cleanest, there isn't a lot of seating to take a rest, and it's usually 90 degrees when we go.  Wait a minute, why do we like it?  I...don't...know.  We always go twice, with the first day being spent on the midway.  We get the ride-all-day-till-you-puke wristband for Helaina and we let her go wild on the kiddie midway - 4 hours worth this time.  She would have kept going but Jim, Josh and myself were parched, drenched in sweat and tired of watching her run from ride to ride as many times as we'd let her.

There were several of these slides and Helaina loved them over and over and over again.

These bumper boats were new and the kids all had a smile on their faces.

Arms up on the dragon roller coaster every single time.  Our little thrill seeker.

She actually had her arms up on this Himalaya as it started to move and I screamed at her to hold on or else.  This ride was fast and smashed the kids into the left side of the seat around every bumpy curve.  Helaina, of course, loved it.

Helaina finally made the height requirement on this roller coaster this year and rode it several times.

Four days later we were back at the fair to do the buildings and the animals.  A rainbow on each cheek for our colorful little girl.

We actually lucked out and got something totally free at the fair because Upstate and Golisano Children's Hospital (Helaina's hospital) was sponsoring a free bike helmet give-away.  Helaina got to pick the color helmet she wanted and then it was adjusted to fit her head perfectly.  It's a great "big girl" helmet with lots of adjustment mechanisms on the inside so it will fit her for quite a while.  We learned the proper way to put it on her too.  It needs to fit down over her forehead slightly to protect the front of her head as well as the back. 

In the cow building Helaina had her picture taken with the Dairy Princess.  When Helaina saw her tiara of "diamonds" she asked "Is she a real princess?"  We told her yes, she's the Dairy Princess and Helaina was very impressed.  Too cute!

She just loves to watch the horses.  They were all lined up getting ready for a show.

We watched a little bit of the circus.  Helaina had a snow cone while waiting because inside the blue circus tent it had to be about 110 degrees.  The high on Saturday was around 92 and that is NOT good Fair weather.  We never sweated so much in our lives, seriously.  I bought a snowcone and dumped it over my head to cool off.  (Did I?)

While I found a shady spot to sit and wring the sweat out of my hair, Jim took Helaina into the petting zoo tent.  She suckered him into buying a cup of carrots to feed the animals.  I would have absolutely REFUSED because 2 cents worth of skinny carrot sticks in a plastic cup was $5!  I go to the fair knowing that everything is expensive and I accept that, but $5 carrot sticks?  No way in heck.  Helaina came running out of the tent excited and screaming "Mommy, Mommy!  Daddy bought the carrot sticks and I fed the animals!"  I gave him the "oh no you didn't" look.  Oh yes he did.   

At the end of a very long and HOT day, our State Fair Princess was fast asleep in her car seat on the way home.  Ice cream and chocolate sauce still on her face, gritty, grimy and sweaty to the core with fading rainbow cheeks, she was probably dreaming about next year's fair and how much fun it will be.

Seabreeze

First there was Enchanted Forest, then Darien Lake, so we had to round out the summer with Seabreeze, which we went to the day after Joshua's birthday.  Always a good time.  I prefer Seabreeze over Darien Lake because it's a lot smaller and attractions are more "compact" - not spread out so much.

Helaina still enjoys the boats even though she's a roller coaster kind of gal.

The dizzying teacups.

They road these flying machines several times.  Helaina loves them because you can turn them with a rudder and it makes the ride swing out sideways and go faster, giving Mom a heart attack while watching.

Rode these cars a lot, over and over and over again.

The train ride took you around the log flume area, which fascinates Helaina.

She rode this coaster with Josh a few times then by herself about 6 more times until we bribed her with the water park to get her off the coaster.  Think she would have kept going if we didn't end it.

Absolutely loved this pink water slide in the kid's soak zone.  I gave up counting how many times she went down this one.

Every time she flew out the shoot with an unbelievably large splash.

Every time she would splash someone and every time she thought it was a hoot.

Ahhh, gotta love the lazy river.

This was the first grown-up water slide Helaina went down and my heart was pounding while waiting for them to appear after walking up countless steps to the top.  Of course, she LOVED it and they went about 5 or 6 more times after the first.

Log flume before ...

... during ...

... and after - and of course again and again.

Jim's been on vacation this past week and we've been on the go go go.  It started out last weekend with 2 birthdays... Aunt Kathy and little Nic... (and happy birthday to Aunt Terry too).

Then there was the baptism of the sweetest little baby girl who, by the way, wore the same dress that her grandma, great aunt (yah, that's me!), mother and sister wore for their baptisms.  Yikes, that's an antique dress!

This past week we continued our adventures to the fair (twice), a bounce house, fishing, the zoo, kindergarten orientation, back to school picnic and any other exhausting adventure that we could fit in with Helaina.  It's only Saturday - there are still 2 more days left to the holiday weekend.  Who knows what we're in for on Sunday and Monday.

Birthday fun

Joshua's birthday was last week and we celebrated on his birthday and then on the weekend with a family party.  Red Lobster was his restaurant of choice and Helaina was pleased with his selection.

Popcorn shrimp and rice for Helaina - lobster, shrimp and scallops for the birthday boy.

A birthday present from Wildwood.  A huge beach towel with the actual amusement rides on it.

We knew we'd be full from Red Lobster so we had small cupcakes at home for dessert.

Opening presents at the weekend family birthday party with his helper.

The cousins.

Chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting per Josh's request.

Ok, there are no words to describe this precious little girl, Baby Sophia.  She has the EXACT same head of hair that Anna had as a baby.  I see more light brown ringlets in the future.

The Wildwood Water Parks

An all-day waterpark wristband got you entrance into both waterparks on Morey's Pier and Mariner's Landing.  The parks are within walking distance of each other via the beach or the boardwalk.  We started out on Morey's Pier, splashed all morning, had lunch then ended the (very long) afternoon at Mariner's Landing.  We got to the first waterpark about 10:30am and didn't leave the 2nd park until about 5:30.  We were all exhausted but every time we told Helaina it was time to go she would beg and plead to stay a while longer.  We ended our day with 2 trips around the lazy river.  One would have been enough since Helaina actually fell asleep sitting on Jim's lap while floating down the river on their inner tube!

Queen of the water slides.  Helaina absolutely loves these kiddie sized flumes.

Waiting for the huge overhead bucket to fill with water and pour down on you.

"I soaking!!!" she would scream.

Wheee, over and over and over and over again.......

An overhead view of the kiddie area on Mariner's Landing.  We were riding around the park in an overhead suspended boat ride.

Helaina was so tired that she fell asleep in her stroller while we waited for Jim to get the car and pick us up.  That was a very long day for all of us.  We didn't even hit the boardwalk that night.  After dinner we stopped at a playground and Helaina spent most of her time on the monkey bars (what else). Thankfully the playground closed at 8pm and we headed straight for our hotel.  Of course, even as exhausted as she was, Helaina asked to take a dip in the hotel pool before going to sleep.  The girl's got boundless energy.

Boardwalk fun

We hit the boardwalk every day, either after the beach during or after dinner - sometimes both.  Helaina loved all the rides, emphasis on the word love.  She couldn't get enought of them almost to the point of obsession.

This jack-in-the-box type ride was Helaina's absolute favorite.  Each of the 3 piers had one but this one was the "bounciest".  She would immediately exit after riding and get in line to ride again, as many of the kids did.  The look on this little boy's face cracks me up.  He was probably thinking "Why the heck is this chick screaming so much?"

Each pier also had a carousel and Helaina rode every one of them more than once.

I called these the "whip it" cars because at each curve she got whipped around the corner - and naturally loved it.

Kiddie bumper cars are another favorite, especially when she drives into another car.

Helaina and Jim rode this sky-way thing and got a teriffic view of the beach and boardwalk.  I stuck to riding the roller coasters with Helaina, something Jim didn't want to experience.

Helaina liked the scrambler too.  She begs to ride the full-size ones but she's not allowed - yet.

Convoy trucks.  She spent a lot of time going around in circles!

One of the props next to the Great White - a massive wooden roller coaster.  Joshua and I used to ride it over and over years ago.  It's loud, rickety but loads of fun.

At the end of a very long night on the boardwalk, Helaina's about to fall asleep in her stroller.  She begged for this lighted sword and well, she won.  She's also holding a stuffed Smurf.  We played one of those water squirting gun games and unfortunately didn't win.  A young man in his mid-20's won but didn't want his prize.  He saw Helaina looking all disappointed and asked us what prize she wanted.  He let her pick out his prize and keep it.  Nice gesture.  She was thrilled.  I thanked him profusely and told him she made his night.  Helaina gave him a hug, said thank you and was happier than anything.

In dreamland back at the hotel.  She fell asleep almost immediately with her new Smuf by her side.  Life is good when you're 5 years old at the Jersey shore.  Next up - the waterparks.