Adventure City

For Christmas, I asked my parents to buy my family a day pass to Adventure City. Actually, I asked for annual passes, but the park doesn't offer them at this time. So on Friday, we were finally able to use them. This a cute little amusement park geared just for kids ages 1 to 7. The park is only 2-3 acres, so we didn't even need a stroller and only stayed for about 3 hours. Perfect day out with the family and we were able to make it home in time for our crock pot dinner.

The first ride of the day was this cute little one that had police cars, fire trucks and ambulances for the kids to *drive* around a track. I love how each kid had their own steering wheel and buttons for them to push to make the siren sound. I believe we rode this 3-4 times and the kids wanted to ride it much more.
Next, we went on the Giggle Wheel. Look at my two big kids riding all by themselves! The fact that they were able to ride most things on their own made them feel that much more special, independent and grow up. Again, we rode this a few times.

Elsie of course still needs to ride with one of us. If not, I am pretty sure she would have stood up on the ride and God knows what would have happened then.

These hot air balloons looked simple enough, but let me tell you they weren't! Actually, Seth liked them pretty well, but.....

Kya and the rest of us weren't to keen on them. Check our her scared little face. This ride not only went around in circles, but also up and down some. All I can say is that Wayne and I were both not feeling to well afterwards. ugh!

Which is why I refused to go on the airplane ride. Wayne had to go on with the kids, because Seth was too small to ride without an adult and Elsie was either too short or too young, I don't remember.

Then it was off to the roller coaster! Seth loved it, but Kya screamed the entire ride, saying she wanted off. It was very rough!

You can barely see Seth and Wayne in the last car, but at least you an see the ride and the fact that they had it all to themselves.

All 3 kids on the school bus. Kya and Seth rode up front by themselves, while Wayne and I squeezed in next to Elsie.

On the train, another family favorite. I think we went on this 2-3 times.

This little Crank-n-Go ride was cute, but turned out to be much harder for the kids to maneuver than we would have thought.

Seth had the easiest time of them all getting his train to move well.

And of course, the favorite ride was the carousel, which we rode multiple times!

Even though I prefer Disneyland (duh!), this was a fun little place to come with the kids. And if we lived closer, I would even like to have an annual pass. Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

Universal Studios

Tuesday morning, we dropped the kids off at my parents house and boarded the metro link to spend the day at Universal Studios Hollywood. With the exception of the Halloween Haunts, neither of us had been there since we were kids, so it was all a pretty new experience for us. We chose to leave the kids home, because after checking it out on the Internet first, we decided that it was not a kid friendly amusement park and we are very glad for that decision. I am pretty sure that the stuff they could go on would have scared them and that they would have been bored after a while. Plus, it was nice for Wayne and I to do something together for a change.


Our first stop, after lunch, was the Studio Tour. This was the only original thing that we both remembered from our youth. And even though they have added a few things, some of the old stuff was still there.
Like the Flood scene....

...the parting of the red sea from the Ten Commandments, only they don't refer to that movie anymore.
....and of course Jaws!

The house from Psycho was also there when I was a kid, but now...

..they have a small skit at the Bates Motel with Norman Bates. They first show him carry a woman out of the motel room and him putting her in the trunk of his car. Then he gets his knife and starts heading toward our tram....but of course we escape before he can get to us!

The new things included the Desperate Housewives street/homes, an Earthquake reenactment and this scene from War of the Worlds.

This was supposed to be a picture of me with a view of the Studio Tour lot behind me, but all we really got was a picture of the city.

Wayne ended up missing the kids, so he went inside the Curious George kid play area. Really the only thing they had for kids!

and of course he enjoyed getting a bit wet by the misters under George's rocket ship!

Waterworld was a fun little show. Made me miss the days spent at the river jet skiing when I was younger!

All of the stunt men and women have also performed on such shows as Greys Anatomy, CSI, Law & Order, etc. Makes me wonder why they are now at Universal though.

After Waterworld, I put the camera away and didn't pull it out again, but we had fun riding on the two rides and seeing more shows. It was a great day to spend with my hunny and the kids had a wonderful time at their Grandparents house where they also got to play with their cousins and see their Great Grandparents.

We love to dance!

Sunday, Wayne and his band played for a group of senior citizens. They were having a special speaker talk to them about preventing and protecting yourself from a house fire. Afterwards, the band played and then a steak dinner was served.
It didn't take long for a group of people to hit the floor for some line dancing!

And soon after that, my girls couldn't contain their dancing feet any longer and joined them out on the dance floor.

Seth was too shy at first, but after dinner, he too joined them. He even danced with this lady for a bit (no pictures, darn!) and was so very proud of himself. Of course, the girls wanted to dance with them too, so it became a group dance.

I love that my kids have the opportunity to have several senior citizens in their lives. I really believe it helps for a person to understand and get along with all age levels. Plus, a lot of these people don't get a chance to be around their own grandchildren very often and so this is a treasure for them too.