The weather was cooperative, so we decided to take a trip up to Bay Beach.
While we had planned to make a full day trip of it the last time we were in the area, things didn’t work out that way. Since I haven’t been feeling well this past week I was grateful that I finally got what I’d call an approximately good night’s sleep. However, that translated into a bit later start than I would have liked (I didn’t wake up until 9:30 a.m.), and a lot later than Michelle would have liked.
Since we needed to eat lunch along the way we decided to stop at Storheim’s. We were quite surprised and a bit disappointed that their Ashwaubenon location was closed, however. It never seemed to be really busy but on the other hand, there always seemed to be someone there. I suppose the writing was on the wall when they closed that location on Sundays. Anyway, we drove to the West Mason St. location – the one we discovered was still open on Sundays this past spring – put some lunch in our tummies, and drove over to Bay Beach.
When we got there it appeared to be a complete and utter madhouse. It didn’t take more than a minute to find a (really very good) parking spot, though, and the lines were relatively short and moved fast. We had our tickets within a few minutes and went straight to work on the rides. I’m not sure if it’s a family tradition or not, but I think this is the third year in a row that we’ve headed to the carousel first.
At this point I should mention that we forgot to bring our camera. You’ll notice that the pictures we did get are grainy and not very big; don’t bother printing them out. I ended up using the camera phone and got a few adequate shots, though.
After that we gratified Mercedes’ deepest desires and got on the helicopters. They’re attached to arms around a rotating pedestal and use hydraulics to move the arms up and down. I went with Shaelin (left) and Regan went with Mercedes. Shaelin’s refrain was “up! up!” for much of the ride. Mercedes and Regan never got off the ground, as it were… our eldest is not quite adventurous enough yet.
To keep Shaelin from getting too intense we next put her on the rides most suited for younger kids. Caterpillars, ladybugs, and boats were all a big hit with her. Regan, our little waterbug, really liked the boats. I’m afraid Mercedes won’t last much longer on these rides, though…
The obvious next choice was the big slide. For some reason I couldn’t get Mercedes to go with this year. Boy, did she miss a good one. When it was time to pick up a sack, a young lady who had just gone down was kind enough to ask if anyone wanted a “fast one.” Sure, we want a fast one! Regan agreed. And a few minutes later, when we went down the slide, we found out what that meant. No, not fast… really fast. We were third or fourth to start but beat every other rider by 6 feet or more. Regan’s hat flew off (into my lap) and mine came close when we nearly lifted off the slide at the second drop.
After this we split up because Mercedes wanted to ride on the bumper cars. The line was so long that Michelle and the younger two girls went on the rest of the younger kids’ rides – planes, cars, and race cars – before we even got to the front of the bumper cars line. It was worth it, though, because Mercedes got to steer while I operated the accelerator. We bumped more than one person thanks to our superb bumping skills.
Cotton candy was on tap following such exertion. Not for me, since I’m not much into the stuff, but the girls all love it. Mercedes must have charmed the guy at the concession because she got an extra big helping. I only wish I had managed to get a picture of the sticky gooey mess, er, I mean, Shaelin. This was all good preparation for going on the train. It’s fortunate that they’ve got two trains running this year to keep the line moving along pretty rapidly. Shaelin was a hoot once we got on the train. She waved and waved and waved until the folks back at the station waved back, and then repeated the performance when we passed the returning train on our way out.
We were running out of time and tickets, so our (supposedly) final stop for the day was to split up, with Regan and I opting for the Scrambler and the rest going to the carousel again. It takes a lot longer to go on the former than the latter and Regan was getting quite bored in line, even though it wasn’t that long. Once we finally got in, though, she had a blast. Because we were visiting the fence for only a second or two as we were going around, she repeated “hi bye!” a bunch of times… oh well, it was cute. I guess you had to be there. Shaelin was upset that she couldn’t be with us! It did a number on Regan’s hair, though (right).
When I says “supposedly final” I mean that Michelle found one more thing for the girls to do. We wrapped things up with pony rides at the edge of the park. They’re separate from the rest of the amusements for some reason, and considerably more expensive. Still, though, when all of the rides are 1 or 2 tickets (at 25 cents each), a buck for a pony ride doesn’t seem all that bad. Mercedes was predictably reserved, and Regan and Shaelin were predictably nuts about it. I have the feeling that if they were to be around horses, Mercedes would train for English riding, and the other two would be bareback riders.
That’s a short summary of the day… are you as tired reading this as I am thinking about it?