You can bring a kid to an amusement park, but you can't make them smile.

I was looking through some of our more recent pictures trying to decide what might be fun to share, and I came across our November trip to the local amusement park. They had it all decked out for Christmas, and being that we live in a fairly mild climate all of the rides were running that day. We got there right before they opened and had a quick lunch then hustled on over to some of the bigger rides before the lines got too long. Rebekah is tall enough to ride everything by herself and of course that is all she would like to do all day.


This is the look of a roller coaster junkie, permanent grin.
(I don't know who the guy in back is)


Look in the second row


The day we were there Katelyn had one request. She wanted to sit with Santa and tell him what she wanted for Christmas. For those of you who don't know, the thing Katelyn wants most in the whole world is her very own pet "lion with a big mane". We have told her unfortunately until she and her siblings are less bite sized we won't be able to help her out. We didn't even go into the legality of owning and caring for exotic creatures. I guess this year she decided that she would go over our heads and ask the big jolly man himself. We went and stood in line for a very, very, very, (you get the idea) long time. For those of you who have ever stood in line with young children, you know just how pleasant this was. We got to the front, where of course they were only taking pictures and trying to get you to buy them. I don't think Santa knew what to do when Katelyn told him her request. Rebekah was horrified that Lance wanted her to squeeze into the picture, Joshua was terrified and Benjamin was just irritated that we wouldn't let him play with the toy truck prop. And the camera guy was miffed that Lance took his own pictures.


Mission accomplished!
(Sorry I don't know how to turn the picture)



"We are a happy family!"


After giving the girls both what they wanted (Rebekah was in a sour mood the rest of the day due to the effects of the coaster rides wearing off and not seeing another one in site) we thought being the generous parents we were we would take the boys to the kiddie section. Both boys love trains and we thought they would get a kick out of riding on one. They loved seeing it, and hearing it, Once on, I'm not sure that Benjamin made the connection we were on the train. I think both boys enjoyed it and I'm sure I was the only one singing on the "Santa, sing-a-long train" but all in all a fun time.





Kiddie Jail? No just waiting in line for the train.




After the train on to the really little kid rides. The ones, where Mommy or Daddy can barely squish into the seats but if your kid wants to ride a flying bug, you have to ride too. When you push the button the ride goes up, when you leave it alone you just go around. Joshua likes the safety of being near the ground with a death grip on my hand. Benjamin just wants to be the one to push the button.



Sometimes when you're going around in circles it's a little hard to pick Dad out of a crowd.







Katelyn just having a wonderful time with her
flying bug (I don't remember what she named it).

All in all we had a fun day just together as a family. However Katelyn was a touch disappointed when she didn't get a lion for Christmas.