Our First Trip to Knoebels This Year

We went to our Knoebels Amusement Resort on Saturday. For the first time in over 12 years, I actually had a horrible time. The kids did, too. It was simply too crowded. I didn’t help that I was hot and cranky to begin with, but I tried to be happy, I really did. All I wanted was a nice day out as a family.

Knoebels is a small, family owned amusement park. Typically, that means short lines, friendly service and lots of fun. However, they are not really capable of handling extremely large crowds. There are not enough employees. Plus, it’s not a large enough park to handle tens of thousands of patrons.

We tend to go on pay one price days so that the kids can ride as many rides as they want. I don’t think we’ve ever waited longer than a half an hour for even the most popular rides. The younger set can usually get right on whatever kiddie ride they want to.

This time, even the Kiddie rides had and hour wait for a two minute ride. Our three kids got to ride one ride a piece before we decided to give up and go home. We had been in the park for over 4 hours. Two hours were spent waiting in line to get a simple fast food lunch. It was ridiculous. As our wait times increased and the temperature rose, my temper soared. I found myself on the verge of freaking out or just sitting in a corner and crying. Steve made the right choice when he declared it was time to leave. I would have stuck it out so the kids could ride all they wanted to, dammit! But, cooler heads prevaled.

Before we left we did have fun crawling over an old steam engine. The oldest two got to play laser tag while the youngest played in the free play area. I think that was their favorite parts of the day.

I’m sure we will go back again, since one bad experience doesn’t outweigh the good ones. But, we will be more careful to check what groups are going to be there at the same time. For now, we’re going to chalk it up as experience and move on.

I’m also learned my lesson. If I wake up cranky, don’t try to make a family perfect day. My mood rubs off on the family way too quickly. By the time we got home, I had some major apologizing to do! It didn’t take all of the bad moods away, but it did help remind the kids that Mommy is human and has bad days, too.

Tractor Pull

Like most children, our kids love, love, love to be outside. They also love anything with wheels. So, the electric ride-on John Deer tractor that they got from their cousin is a huge hit. Unfortunately, it only seats one person! So, in an effort to be both fair and lazy, Steve came up with a system that allows the 5 year old to haul the 2 year old around the yard.

It was quite simple really. He took a bungie cord and a piece of rope and “tied” the stroller to existing hitch on the tractor. This particular ride-on toy is designed for an optional cart, so it has a hole in the back fender. Otherwise, I’m sure Steve would have drilled one. The bungie cord goes around what I call the “leg posts” on the stroller.

Once attached, Jeffy can sit in the stroller and Sam can haul him around the yard. But, that wasn’t the reason for the hookup. No, the reason was so Steve wouldn’t have to push the stroller when we took the kids on a walk. Yep, it was designed out of shear laziness. But, now the kids think they should “drive” everywhere.

The next step is to beef up the tires by glueing an old set of bike tires to the existing tractor tires. Supposedly, this will give the tractor more traction and allow Sam to drive further. I’ll let you know how it goes! For now, the kids are having a blast driving up and down our yard and the rarely driven on street behind our house.

Our Baby Turned Two

Our youngest had a birthday last weekend. We have now hit the “terrific” twos! I’m not quite sure how I feel about this. On one hand, I’m excited to be out of the “baby” stage. I’m looking forward to a “big boy” bed, potty training and increased independence. On the other hand, I’m severely missing the cuddles and the baby-wearing. Although, that might be because he was never a cuddley baby, really. He rarely fell asleep in my arms. He much preferred going to sleep in the crib or bassinet. And as soon as he could crawl, he shunned the wraps and carriers. He simply preferred to do it his way.

We didn’t have a big to-do for his birthday. Just a simple party family party with “za-peez” (pizza), cupcakes and ice cream. This turned out to be the best plan because we could go at his pace, rather than rushing him to open presents, blow out his candles and eat his cupcake. I recommend that for all toddler birthdays. It really lessens the melt-down factor.

I’m not sure he really understood why he was getting presents, but I know he liked the money in his card and he new cell-phone. He also got his very first tricycle earlier in the week. This baby is set for a road trip!

I can’t wait to see what this next year brings for him. It should be interesting. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be glad he’s my last baby multiple times this year considering how active and independent he is already!