Silverwood Trip- August 2010

  

  

  

In August, we went to Silverwood Theme Park (for the first time), so that our girls could perform there with their dance studio.  We got an awesome deal at a hotel (Holiday Inn and Express) from Grant's sister, who works at one, and an awesome deal on the tickets to the Theme Park because they were dancing there, so it was pretty much an offer we couldn't refuse.  Then my friend gave us an extra kid pass, so on Friday, we brought our neice, Paige, along.  6 girls!  Soon to be the story of our lives!!  ;) 

We left on our trip on Thursday, right after the girls finished their soccer camp and arrived late that night, at the hotel.  We stayed in the room right next to Jill and Tito, which was fun!  Friday we had a lot of fun at Silverwood!  1-4) We all rode on the carousel, 5) Tia and Nina excited to fly away, on the helicopter ride, 6) Aurora doing a little window shopping- so cute!, 7-8) The 3 little girls absolutely loved the little train ride and we went on it over and over and over... It was kind of a mini roller-coaster and they became more comfortable each time.  Then Tia and Nina decided to put their hands in the air, like on a scary roller-coaster, and Rori copied them.  It was hilarious!  9) Tia and Nina on the Dumbo ride- they liked it (however, when Riana and Sariah were really small, like 1 and 2, my sister and I put them on this ride, at Lagoon, and they cried the entire ride- we felt so bad!!), 10-11) Riana, Paige, and Grant at/on the Panic Plunge (Riana went on every ride she could- she wasn't tall enough for two,) 12-13) Tia and Sariah on the lazy river (we also went on a huge intertube ride, that was really fun,) 14-15) We went to a couple of great shows- a surprisingly amazing magic show (while eating pizza) and this ice skating show (where we ate treats and froze our buns off!) 

  

  

The girls had a lot of fun dancing!  We were so proud of Sariah, who danced a solo, because none of the girls from her class came.  (She also did this at the fair.  Her dance teacher, Michelle, asked her if she still wanted to do her class dances and she said yes.  Then Michelle offered to dance with her and she said, "No, I can do it."  It was quite impressive and even made me cry.)  Side note- Michelle now has her own studio and enrollment has grown a ton!  In addition to clogging, the studio now offers ballet, (clean) hip hop, jazz, musical theatre, and more, for kids and adults, and even a couple of all boys classes.  It is pretty exciting!  1) The whole group, 2) Tia, 3) Riana, 4) Sariah and Tia, 5) Sariah alone, 6) Riana and Sariah, 7 & 8) Karina, 9) The whole group

  

  

  

  

  

Our second day at Silverwood was filled with family, friends, fun, and food.  It was a lot of fun going on rides with Grandma, Grandpa, Cousins, Brothers, etc.  It was also fun running into friends from dance, all day.  1) Aurora loves her Uncle "Chew" aka Uncle Tito or should I say Uncle "Chew"s facial hair (she loves facial hair and men in general... should I be worried?  I hate facial hair!  Her Uncles even grow out their facial hair to come visit us so that Rori will be their best friend.  LOL!)  2) Nina and Tia told me they wanted to take a picture with Odie so that they could be brave!  I was so shocked that they would even go anywhere near him!!  Usually they cling to my side or want to be held.  I was proud of them!  3-5) A few of us had a lot of fun on the log ride- it was one of my favorites!!  Gene, Shari, Alexis, and Aaron, then Sariah, Paige, and Riana, then Tierra and I, 6-7) The River-rafting ride was not as fun and a lot wetter!!  The fun thing about it was filling a tube with just the girls-- lots of screaming went on!!  And we got soaked!!!  8) Karina, Aurora, (Tierra, and I- not pictured) spent a lot of time chilling at the kiddie area of the water park, although I did go on a few waterslides.  Karina and Tierra went on the same little slide probably 100 times!  And then Tierra (with a bribe) braved a bigger slide!  Go Tia!  PS- The girls pretty much wore their swim-covers all day long.  9-13) While eating our all-you-can-eat barbeque lunch/dinner (which also included unlimited drink bands for the day- it was a pretty good deal), we (the girls and I, and Jill and her girls) got a call from Grant to tell us they could see us, so we went and watched them (Grant, Aaron, and Tito) ride on Tremors.  Afterwards, they joined us for some food.  14-21) Another one of the kiddos favorite rides- the antique cars, which they drove.  They loved them so much that we had to go on it twice!  (Grant and Riana; Paige, Karina, and Aaron; Kaiti, Tia, and Tito- then later Kaiti by herself; Sariah, Aurora, and I- Sariah was really sweet to let Aurora drive most of the way; Connor and Aurora hugging in line- he went with his Daddy/Phil once and Uncle Tito the other time; Nina and Rori in the backseat with me and Tia driving; and Sariah by herself,) 22) While we went the second time, Grant, Riana, Aaron, Michelle, (also Phil, Paige, Jill) went on the Corkscrew.  23) Then since the girls had been begging to go back to the little train, we did.  I took Ali along to help me with all the little kids.  (Kaiti, Sariah, Tierra, Ali, Karina, Aurora, and I)  We also went on a bunch of other little rides, while the others went on all the scary rides.  24) At the very end of the day, we picked out some little souveniors and treats.  Tia and Nina, and the loot, in front of an empty carousel.  It was a fun and exhausting day!!    

Sunday, we spent going to church with Phil and Michelle, hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's house (Picture 1- Aurora loves their kitties and doggy), and then ended the day attending Joshua's baptism.  It was so thoughtful of them to plan it for the same weekend!  We sure appreciated that!  It was a really great baptism and we are glad we could be their to support Joshua and his family.  (Picture 2 & 3) 

Monday, we spent swimming at the hotel pool and having a picnic at the park.  4) 5 sleeping girls, probably one of the nights when we got back from Silverwood, 5) Swimming with cousins, 6) Riana and silly Aurora, 7) Aurora becoming a little too brave, 8) Aurora's reaction to me putting a lifejacket on her- not too happy!, 9) Aurora getting comforted by Auntie Jill- much better!, 10 & 11) An entire pool full of Uncles and Cousins, while the Aunties sat by and chatted, 12) A pizza and pop picnic at the park- playing with cousins on the toys and playing catch with the football.  It was a really fun trip!  We had a great time and made lot of wonderful memories!!  :)