Lagoon

We used to love coming to Lagoon as kids. We would go with all our cousins or with our ward for Stake Lagoon day. It was always so much fun! So I thought it would be an adventure to take the kids this year. We have been debating the idea of doing Disneyland this fall and Lagoon was our test run to see if the kids could handle it. The jury is still out but they are leaning toward next year.



Ella rocked the bumper cars. We first put her on without Seth and he kept pointing at the "cars"and wanting to ride with Ella. So we stopped the ride and threw him in there.



1 minute and 4 crashes later and Seth was DONE! I can't say I blame him. I don't think I would be comfortable driving with Ella.



This poor kid was such a good sport. There were only 3 kids in the bumper cars and Ella had to hit someone. I'm afraid that he got the brunt of it.



They have this cute kids version of Tidal Wave. We all thought it was a good time. Seth and I were on the other side. We could always tell when Seth enjoyed a ride. He would sit there looking nonplussed and when the ride finished he would say "Nen!" (meaning again).



Manning her pink space shuttle. This ride was totally up her alley.



There's a cool dude with Grandma.



Here's Ella on Bulgy the Whale living dangerously. When we left Ella declared that this was her favorite ride. Probably because it moves the slowest of anything there. I think this ride was designed for the 18 month crowd.



Unfortunately Bulgy didn't appeal to it's target audience this time.



A lot of waiting in line. The kids handled it surprisingly well though.



This ride is called "Dragonfly". It is similar to Turn of the Century but with a hint of the scrambler. It was actually designed by Lagoon employees. It was very cute and I believe it was Seth's favorite because we rode it twice and he still said "NEN!" after each time.



The race car ride was great for Ella. I used the words "race car" very loosely. I think it made her feel pretty grown-up to go on it alone. Plus it is quite secluded for a kids ride. For like a whole 30 seconds you can't even see your parents taking pictures and screaming at you to "smile" and "look over here!"



In line for the tug boats. I'm pretty sure we have a picture of Rachel and me on this ride when we were wee ones. It's pretty sweet because you can ring a little bell as you ride. You could tell the Lagoon employee was loving that fact.



We learned a lot about Seth during this outing. He is actually pretty brave about going on rides..
.


as long as his Mama is with him.



Okay, Puff the dragon is probably my favorite ride at Lagoon as far as nostalgic factor. I loved it as a kid. So we got Ella and Seth psyched for it. Not too tricky considering they both love dragons. Ella even knows the puff song and has a book about him. Seth of course insisted that we were riding on a "dile" (crocodile). Being that this was Ella's first real roller coaster there was some stress as she watched the other kids get on. "Mom those kids look pretty happy," she told me. She got on no problem but I think the noise and the speed scared her a bit because she began praying aloud half way through. I am dead serious.



This picture was taken at the end of the ride. I believe Ella is debating if she will ever ride it again. Seth on the other hand fussed for the first time around the track and then just sat back and relaxed.



Chelsea and I were shocked that Ella wanted to ride the "Odyssey". It was so blasted hot outside that I think she just wanted to get a little wet no matter how she had to do it. It was neat though. You could control when your car went up or down. Some sea creatures were positioned around the edges and would spray you as you went past.



The kids always enjoy a good merry-go-round.



Seth was still on his Mama hold me kick from all the torture we'd put him through.



So we found a nice bench that we could both sit on.



Animal Kingdom train =most depressing thing ever. So everyone loves a kiddie train but not when you are slowly moving past beautiful animals kept in tiny little cages with no vegetation whatsoever. Poor lions and tigers.



Posing next to the train.



Surprisingly Ella loved the rides with guns. She would relentlessly shoot at the person behind her and then yell at all of us innocent bystanders to "put your hands up because I'm going to shoot you!" No wonder Seth didn't want to ride this one with her.



This picture was taken just before we left. They have some water fountains that squirt up out of the ground near the entrance/exit and Ella had to get just a little wet. She told me she just wanted to dip her feet in but soon was soaked.



Walking back to the car for nap time.



About two minutes after this picture was taken Seth followed suit. What a great day at Lagoon. Although I don't agree that "it's what fun is" as their slogan says, it was a pretty good time. See you soon for bounceback!