Allen's Visit: Busch Gardens and Water Country USA

While Mom and Dad were in Yellowstone, Allen came to hang out with us for about 6 days. We tried to show him a good time. Besides s'mores with our neighbors, a BBQ with some friends, seeing a movie with George and visiting our puppy we also visited Busch Gardens and Water Country USA. It was a very busy 6 days!

As always, the boys LOVED being at Busch Gardens.

This little miss was a trooper and hung out in her stroller most of the day.

Lance was able to ride Apollo's Chariot for the first time ever and LOVED it! He says his favorite roller coaster is still Loch Ness, but Apollo's is a close second.

The Elmers happened to be there that day too, so we hooked up with them for most of the day. Allen took to Jayden immediately and stuck to him like glue, entertaining him with his usual questions about superheros and assertions that he was, in fact, as strong as one. Jayden was fabulous and took it all in stride. It was pretty funny.

I had promised Lance I'd take him on Roman Rapids, so as the park was about to close, the kids and I ran over and rode it twice in a row--didn't even have to get off to reload.

This was Jude's first time on the ride. He was a little nervous. :)

It was fun! Cole's favorite part of the day was riding the train twice. He and Daddy took a trip all the way around while the boys rode a few rides. He was in heaven. 

A couple days later, we drove back to Williamsburg to Water Country. Allen had never been before and was excited/nervous. They have a new slide up that is awesome! We'll definitely have to go back this summer.

Jude was loving the slides. This kid thinks he's a fish and can't get enough of the water.

Cole didn't cry on the rides, but this was his expression the whole time:

And of course Lance had a blast!

George and I took turns playing with Lily while the other took the rest of the kids on raft rides, or just Lance and Allen to the bigger slides. Lance and I rode Vanish Point together. It was totally scary! I'm not a fan of falling and this one I had to propel myself off into an almost vertical drop. Lance went first, no hesitation. I felt foolish as I hesitated realizing that my 8 year old is a braver soul than me. He rode that ride several times, once with me twice with George, once with Allen and a few times by himself. I think it has become his favorite.

Lily liked the water, although was a little reserved.

I love that they have these life vests for the kids. Cole is just like his brother and loves being in the water, but if his feet come out from under him he struggles to stand back up. We had a couple scary moments when he bobbed up and down in the water unable to keep his head up. Good thing we were watching!

Jude went non-stop that day.

We spent a good deal of time on the Hubba Hubba Highway, the coolest lazy river ever. I took the three little ones while George, Allen, and Lance rode a slide and we floated along together. We made little boats out of larger life vests which the boys thought were amazing. It was quite the exercise keeping us all together especially with Lily, but I managed until George came to help.

Jude became a prankster and would make Cole squeal by grabbing his feet or pulling on his boat.

Lily wasn't too sure about it, but took it in stride like she does most things.

Backup! Woohoo! Lance likes to swim the river without a vest so I don't have many pictures of him. He was weaving in and out of patrons and we caught up with him about 15 minutes later when we got out.

I think Allen had a good time!

On our way out of the park, we stopped by the candy store to get some goodies for the ride home when Jude spotted something amazing:

The World's Largest Gummy Bear (on a stick, so not really the full size)! He has been begging for the 5 lb version of this for literally a month and was tickled pink when we allowed him and Cole to pick one out each. 

Even though it was almost midnight, he had to try it as soon as we got home.

Crazy boy!

We had a fun time with Allen! So glad he got to stay with us while his parents were away. He was a great sport and a good help with the kids. Thanks, Allen! You're the best!

Bison and moose and elk, oh my!

For Dad's 70th Birthday his kids all got together and got him and Mom a trip to Yellowstone. He has always wanted to go so at the end of June he and Mom finally got to visit the park for four days. He came back with some great stories of the animals they saw, the people they met, and the amazing landscapes. Even Mom who was skeptical before they went had a wonderful time and said she would definitely visit again.

Here are a few pictures they took on their trip:

Buffalo! If you look close you can see several babies. 

Elk

Love love love this picture!

They even saw a bear!

I'm so glad they had a good time! 

Lance's June California Trip!

Lance is one lucky kid. Honestly. He got to miss the last week of school in June and fly to California with his dad and Abbey to see his cousins for about 10 days! He always has the best time there. They decided to go early this year because the Gondas (Scott's sister's family) are moving this summer to Texas for a year while Lance's uncle Dave does a Pediatric Neurosurgery fellowship. Scott grew up in Poway (San Diego area) and the Gondas are currently living in the same house where he spent most of his childhood, so of course they needed to hang out one last time all together before the move.

I stole these pictures off of Denise's blog (Thanks, Denise!) She takes some great photos!

They have a pool in their backyard, so most days include some swimming with the cousins.

 Lance has always been a fish, so he loves it, although he says the water is pretty cold!

Cousins after a swim:

 Calvin, Lance, Clare, Austin, Lexey, Jo, and Parker.

Jessica and Pete were living in San Diego as well, but Pete joined the military and is now doing JAG so they're moving this fall to Virginia! I'm excited for Scott that he'll be so close to his brother and his cute family. He and Jessica have those two sweet little boys, Parker and Austin.

Grandma Joyce was visiting too! I have to say, I love Grandma Joyce and miss her. When you thing of all the things a grandma should be, the person that comes to mind would be Grandma Joyce to a 'T'. 

Kari, Grandpa Bob, Denise, and Grandma Joyce

 The Gondas have an orange tree in their yard and Lance and Calvin picked them to make juice on a few occasions.

Lance arranging flowers for the table. :)

Family pictures:

Family picture:

So many people have asked me (once they realize that Scott and I share Lance) if it's weird to be around Abbey. The answer to that question is nope, not at all. I love her. I think she is great. She's a wonderful person who is fabulous to Lance and kind to me. I couldn't have asked for a better person in Lance's life. It's obvious she makes Scott very very happy and Lance loves her to death. If you know Lance, you know he's very free with his opinions and doesn't hesitate to let you know exactly what he thinks. I have never heard him say one unkind thing about Abbey. You can't get a better recommendation than that.

Boy cousins:

That beautiful Poway view from the Gonda's backyard. San Diego is paradise.

So thrilled. :)

The next big thing for this fun Dahlquist family (after the two moves, of course) is Uncle Dan comes home from his mission in the end of August!