adventuredome

we had family in town last week. most of our attempts at fun resulted in frustration and fighting and meltdowns (parents and kids alike) - kids don't like to shop but we just keep on trying! on day three we got smart and took the kids to the adventuredome at circus circus. it was so. much. fun. some of the fun may have been at haven's expense, but still, i haven't laughed so hard in such a long time.


nash was in heaven and surprised me with his adventure-seeking spirit. he yelled at all the carnies to go faster, faster, faster!!! as soon as each ride ended he was racing through the line to do it again. and again. and again. his only meltdown happened when i said it was time to go (six hours later).


haven started out enjoying herself on the ferris wheel and the merry-go-round. then we stepped it up a notch and went on the pirate ship. she was all smiles on the first few swings but then i think her little tummy gave out and her face turned to a look of terror. once the ride was over she seemed like she'd regained her composure, so we went over to the frog-hopper. composure went out the window. she screamed, her face turned beet red, and when the carny stopped the ride she frantically climbed up and over the padded bar that is intended to restrain children and nearly fell to the floor. the worst part is she had a mother, two grandparents, and two aunts watching and laughing hysterically. no one helped her (in our defense we probably would have gotten in trouble if we tried).


haven was done. she refused to go on any more rides, but being the good mom that i am, i pushed her just a little further. i couldn't let her quit the rides on such a bad note. i figured if i got her on something a little more tame she might not be terrified of theme parks for the rest of her life. so i spotted a little thomas the train ride full of two-year olds. i thought it would be perfect. i strapped her in next to nash and away they went. if i had watched the ride a time or two prior to putting her on i might have noticed how jerky it was, but it was too late. i noticed when her head snapped back, her smile dropped and her face returned to a deep fuschia color. she screamed the entire time. another thing i didn't notice was that each car had a camera in front of it. so we managed to get it all on tape. best ten dollars ever spent, right here (music alert):



i know it's a little mean, but i can't stop laughing when i watch this. the two of them side-by-side with completely different reactions to the ride. haven thinking her life is coming to an end, nash looking like a bobble head version of mad max laughing himself silly.


this is what parenting is all about, am i right?

just to prove i'm not the worst mom ever: haven had been crying and praying (literally, like to heavenly father) for a pillow pet (all her cousins have one) for about a week. while we were watching cousins go on rides after the trifecta of terror wore her out, i noticed a claw game filled with mini "pillow chums." i put a dollar in and maneuvered the little claw around until it was perfectly placed right above a little pink and purple unicorn and pushed the red button. when haven and i realized what was happening we started screaming and jumping up and down! a small victory, but we actually won!!! she was so happy + she had something to cuddle and calm her the rest of our time there. i was happy to have saved myself $18 + tax and make her happy! of course, the happiness ended two nights later when, while tucking her in to bed, she informed me that she really wants "a humungo pillow pet."



the girl knows what she wants.

*please excuse nash in the above photo, he thinks he needs to be in all our pictures and i'm done fighting it. plus he's cute. although i'm not sure what he's doing to his eye...


** a big thank you to aunt holwonder who took the awesome photos of the escape + loaned me money to buy the awesome video!