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Today was family fun day.  Whoohoo! 

We originally had plans to do some shopping and see Toy Story 3 ( I don't know who's more excited...the kids or us) but I found a coupon yesterday for a GREAT rate to go to Idlewild so I called Greg and we decided to take advantage and changed our plans.

We went for the first time last year, but Fionn was too small still to ride most of the rides, and it rained off and on (torrential downpours)
the entire time we were there, so there was still plenty of NEW things for us to do this year!
(here are a few scenes from last year...maggie was NOT happy about the rain and the cold)

I looked at the website last night, and checked out all there was to do in Jumpin Jungle since we only were in there a few minutes last year.  The pictures on the website looked like everything would be fun for Fionn, the kids were scampering right up that big net with smiles on their faces so I was confident he would LOVE it...

We went through Storybook forest, then headed in.  Wouldn't you know, first thing they wanted to do...climb the net.  No problem I thought as Greg stayed with Cate down (he had her in the carrier)below and I headed up with Maggie and Fionn.

My confidence was bolstered even more by this family just above us on the net. They had a little girl who looked to be about Fionn's size and she also SCAMPERED right up the net...

Here we were still doing good...all though I was starting to question the wearing of flip flops to climb the net as my feet were starting to slide out of them as we were starting to go up...Fionn hadn't quite grasped the concept of climbing up the net yet, so we watched as sissy SCAMPERED on  up the thing in front of us(with not so much as a look back either)

Yep right about here is where I knew we were going to be in trouble! Fionn decided that he didn't want to figure out the whole climbing thing, so now it was momma climb, boost Fionn, tell him to hold on, repeat...and the shoes were making it REALLY difficult at this point...

And here...holy cow, I was just trying to save us from falling DOWN the net. Fionn had decided that he wanted me to CARRY HIM at this point in the climb and he kept letting go of the net and reaching for me. I was trying to haul my own fat butt up this thing and my shoes and Fionn. Maggie meanwhile made it to the top, flipped herself OVER the edge of the thing and we doing her happy dance at the top, oblivious to the fact that for me, this was becoming a perilous journey!  I mean really, what kind of mom would I be if either one of us fell down this dumb net, a net that small children SCAMPER up!  I had to keep going up, even though we had yet to reach the hardest part.

You will notice a nice GAP in time here, because a)my husband either noticed that we were in real danger of falling off the stupid net or b) was doing something with Cate.

We're going to say it was A, because, seriously ya'll...I was a sweating fool on this net and was only about 80% sure we were going to survive it.  So he HAD to have noticed and was trying to formulate a plan to save us from imminent danger...OR he was just laughing and thanking his lucky stars that MOMMY took them up it.

I was pretty sure at THIS moment I thought tonight's headline would read:  "We're following a breaking story out of Idlewild tonight"... "2 year old boy and his mother fell backwards down the climbing net in jumping jungle...why they couldn't SCAMPER up it is unknown at this time."

Notice my stance...I was holding myself up, and climbing UP mind you, all the while balancing Fionn on my thighs AND the net. I finally got Mag's attention and we pushed/pulled him over the edge of the net. (at that point I felt like just letting go, and falling back DOWN the net rather than trying to haul my big butt OVER the top)

WE'RE ALIVE, we made it...whoooohoooooo!

I'm pretty sure by this point that my legs were visibly shaking...it was NOT pretty. But look at Fionn, look at that proud look on his face...even though I needed to stand for a few minutes to calm my heart rate back down at the top of net, it was all worth it.  The boy was happy.

UP NEXT: the ballpit

note to future Ginger...your children WILL bury you in anything...be it hay, snow, sand, AND balls (let the daddy take them in)

In all seriousness, we had a BLAST at Idlewild, and still didn't do everything there is to do.  After this we headed to the Soakzone,where we spend the rest of the afternoon until it closed...even Cate got in the pool...but that is a story for another day!

2 months

I'm not sure how it's happened, but our little princess is TWO months old already!!  So here are the details from her trip to the pediatrician yesterday...

Cate is up to a WHOPPING 9 pounds 13 oz. and is 21 inches long.  She went from the 3rd percentile to the 25th in weight, now that's GOOD growing!!  

She's up to eating 4-6 oz. every 4-6 hours and is doing really well holding up her head and is starting to smile at us more often.  We love everyday with her, and her big brother and sister adore her 

(not nearly as much as mom and dad do though)

So here's a peek at our 2 month old!

I got this great baby hammock off of Etsy, and promised the maker pictures for her to use in her listing.  This is what I got today of Cate for her.  Cate had slept all morning, and was grumpy when we finally had time to take these.  I fed her, but she wanted more...therefore, she was NOT happy.  We only had a small window of time where we had daddy home to help, as this is a two man shoot to make sure she stayed safe.
I think the ones we got turned out well....what do you think?

Wordless Wednesday

Vacation day 3

This post ALSO sponsored by Cate, who enjoys being awake from 2-4 am!

(good thing I can type with one hand)

Sesame Place day TWO -AMAZING!

Plain and simple, this was the best possible trip we could have taken this week.

We have loved everything about the park.  Even the prices, seriously.  It's the one amusement park that I don't feel like we were taken to the cleaners to come to.  We got a RIDICULOUSLY good deal on our package to come, which included a free upgrade to season passes when we booked our trip, so it took the "oh no...we HAVE to go these days" out of our trip.  We knew we could come any number of our four day trip, so we played it by ear everyday.  We thought we may go back tomorrow for half a day before heading for home, but the weather is NOT going to cooperate, so we're just going to meander back towards Pittsburgh and see where the wind blows us(hopefully not literally)

We spent TWO whole days at Sesame Place and still didn't do everything there was to offer, and the park is NOT that large.  It's pretty small actually (around the same size as Kennywood, but bigger than Waldameer to all our Western PA friends) We never made it to the 3rd show, nor did we even make it to the lazy river or the other water attractions.  We didn't even play on this massive rope climbing area or stop once at the playgrounds, that's how much more fun there was to be had.

Today was all about trying to see the shows, and meet more characters...and of course the 

"WADER, WADER" 

we were with Fionn after all!

We succeeded in all of our plans, and were happy when we left the park.  In the two days we were there, we only ate one actual meal IN the park(and that was our character dinner tonight)  We had free breakfast every morning at our hotel, and took a cooler with lunch for the afternoons.  There just happens to be a Wal-mart right by our hotel, and a nice BIG(but still mini) refrigerator in our room, so we went and got a few essentials Sunday night.  We chose to pay a little more (but still under $20 a day) for parking so we would be close enough to just walk out and eat and go back in.

Greg was skeptical(as he told me tonight) about paying what we did for the Character Dinner...until the character dinner.  

It was AWESOME.  

We had dinner with Big Bird, Elmo, Cookie, Zoe, and Burt and Ernie.  Except for Elmo and Big Bird (you went to them) everyone else came around to every table(multiple times actually)  Mag and Fionn had SO much fun, their smiles and laughter was worth every penny we shelled out!

We have not been sure about Disney, if Fionn was ready, but after this trip, I think he is!  He was not scared one bit (just grumpy when tired) and did such a good job with everything!!

So here is day two in pictures, ENJOY

 

So that's it.  We closed down the park pretty much both nights (it was only open until 8pm) and had so much fun while there.  In the last picture of Fionn I asked him "did you have fun buddy" and he said "YESH"

that's all that matters.

We are brown (mommy and daddy a little pink) and tired, and happy. 

All the makings of a great vacation! 

Vacation Day 2

What a day! It took us a little while to get to Sesame Place this morning. Fionn and Cate were both grumpy and Maggie didn't sleep well last night in the hotel so it made this morning interesting...yeah, i'm sticking with interesting.
As you can see everyone had a GREAT time once we were there and they were so excited with everything we saw and did!  I'll write more about the trip itself at another time, as I am EXHAUSTED and i'm the only one still awake!