A Day in Wonderland - Dutch Style

This past Saturday we took the kids to one of Staci's favorite places, Dutch Wonderland! We've been wanting to take the kids to an amusement park and William's been asking to ride a roller coaster. After a little bit of web research I decided this would be the perfect place - rather than dragging the kids all over Hershey Park or Six Flags, we'd go to a park designed just for kids - because honestly? riding rides for some reason makes me want to hurl - I can't even do the Merry Go Round anymore - and we have a not-quite 3 and not-quite 2 year old who wouldn't be able to do much anyway. So - after spending 45 minutes hunting down William's DS (which was in the van all along and died 10 minutes into the trip) we were finally on our way at 9am. Did I tell you it's 2-1/2 hours from where we live?

It was 11:30 when we arrived in Lancaster, PA so we stopped for lunch at McDonalds (Evie had been clamoring to go there to get an Ice Age toy - what did we get? 3 identical Ty puppy dogs - I hate Happy Meals). Sarah was cute - she was having trouble holding her cheeseburger together and said 'oh no - my meal is broken!' That girl kills me.

We arrive at the park, pay our admission and start enjoying our day - along with every other family, stroller in hand, within a 200 mile radius. We did have a good time though - I was uncharacteristicly patient even though I was dying for coffee. Did I tell you about the coffee? We were leaving McDonalds & I asked Matt, do you think I should get a cup here before we leave? Or stop somewhere else (there was a Starbucks just down the street). No, he assured me, there would be coffee at the park - Grandparents go there and that's what they drink. Do you think there was a cup of coffee to be found anywhere in there? Nooooooo. What did I see just outside the door when we left? A big sign at the fudge shop next door advertising coffee and lattes. (sigh)

We had lots of fun - Sarah rode her first roller coaster, William rode a BIG roller coaster, and Evie and William had their first pony rides. There was a sky ride, a train ride (Jason LOVED the train - choo choo!), log flumes, and a carousel (Jason wasn't so crazy about the carousel).
By 5 pm Jason was spinning in circles and Sarah was just wandering every which way so we knew it was time to head out. We weren't on the road more than 15 minutes when they fell asleep - but not for long. We decided breakfast for dinner would be a good idea & we stopped at a Perkins on the way home. I had remarked to Matt before we stopped what a pleasant day it had been, and how nothing really out of the ordinary had happened. Do you think I jinxed myself?

Oh yes I did. I picked Jason up out of the high chair at Perkins after our meal & his shorts felt damp. Got him out to the car and discovered he'd had the biggest blowout I've ever seen. It was everywhere. Thank God Matt was there to help, because the first thing Jason does when you get his diaper off is stick his hand down there. Typical, no? Matt had his hands, I had one leg under my arm while I held the other & tried to clean him up. Also thank God he didn't do this AT the park. and that the package of wipes was new - I used a ton. Making memories, folks!

Long story short, we had a terrific time & look forward to going back again next summer, when things will be just a tiny bit easier & maybe we can stay a little bit longer.