ELITCHES

Today was Scot and Sarah's work party at Eliches. Sarah and I thought that the water park portion looked like fun last year, so we packed the kids up early and headed over to check it out. Let's begin with the obvious findings - the water park rides that looked fun to us aren't made for small children (which we knew going in), but the kids sure loved the section that was made just for them. We had limited time to play in the water due to the fact that we had to meet Scot at the employee luncheon (as the boss, he pretty much had to be there to interact with all his employees). Ethan and Brynn spent a good majority of their time in the miniature version of the pirate ship, but then Ethan decided he was ready to venture out and try a larger slide (still in the kid section mind you). At a whopping 42 inches tall, he was just the perfect height, but the catch was that in order to get up to the slides, you had to go through spraying water of some kind. Since I was considered "too pregnant" to ride the slides, Aunt Sarah happily agreed to go with Ethan. We scouted out the route that appeared to have the least amount of water overhead for multiple reasons:1. Sarah and I were trying desperately not to get our hair wet in the interest of looking somewhat presentable throughout the remainder of our day at Elitches.

2. Ethan does not enjoy having water on his head, mainly because it means that he will more than likely get water in his ears (we're working on getting over that... but for now - it's a minor issue).

Sarah and Ethan headed up the rope ladder which was mildly sprayed with water, but by the time they looked over the side of the pirate ship at the top of the slides, Sarah was drenched. Hmmm, apparently the spritz over the rope ladder was a bit misleading. (I couldn't help but laugh). Brynn and I were watching from below to cheer Ethan and Sarah on as they came down - and then they ran into a snag, riders had to go down alone. We obviously should've known that going in, but we hadn't really thought it through very well. Sarah talked to Ethan while I worked it out with the lifeguard to be able to walk into the pool and catch Ethan at the bottom.

I was so proud that Ethan agreed to go down the slide because I wasn't sure he would do it alone.

I was holding Brynn and stood to the side of the slide and

grabbed onto Ethan's arm right as he came off the end. Perfection. I was so proud of Ethan for being so brave. Way to go buddy. (The bottom of the slide is behind Ethan - it twisted around and shot out into the pool at the bottom of

the slide in the pic. just above Ethan's head...we went back to take a picture after he was dressed and ready to leave the water park).

The kids took dad on a couple rides in the children's section of the park before turning him loose to ride everything else. The funniest ride of all was this little bus tour (that was actually a ride that lifted the bus up into the air and then took it in a full circle, up and down and up and down.

Ethan and Brynn were hanging on for dear life - I was laughing so hard, all I could do was try to capture their faces in a picture - which isn't easy when things are moving.

Speaking of pride - I can't mention Elitches and fail to mention Scot and Sarah's display of bravery (and insanity). They both rode the slingshot and the boomerang...I wouldn't have gone on either of them, I was nauseous just watching. The slingshot required them to get into the little ball (see picture), and then they were shot straight up in the air - CRAZY. Thankfully I took short videos of both cause I'm not sure anyone will be repeating these rides.

To put it straight, Sarah wanted nothing to do with them either, but Scot and Ben had purchased 3 tickets, so she had no choice. (Thankfully, I was pregnant, so they couldn't force me to do it too).

Basically, the boomerang pulled the three of them from the ground all the way to the top of one side of the boomerang (see pic)... and then when they gave the signal, Sarah had to pull the ripcord to release them. When the signal was given, the group on the left side pulled their cord immediately, and nothing was happening on Sarah, Scot and Ben's side. Come to find out, Sarah couldn't find the handle to pull, so Ben and Scot were really surprised when she actually did pull it, and they plummeted head first in a free fall until they swooped out and above our heads. I could hear them all screaming and laughing - I'm just glad it was them and not me.

We ended the day with a leisurely horseback ride. Everyone had a fabulous day.