Kings Dominion trip

we're baaaaa-aaaaack!

and we had a stinkin' great time at Kings Dominion this year! perfect weather (warm enough for the water park, but not sweltering hot), perfect kids (soooo well-behaved! how'd i get so darn lucky?!), & an all around perfect day! :0)
the lines were short & we were ready for some fun!

we got a late start (in normal Skates family fashion ~giggle~)....the kids were soooo good for the 2 hour drive there - again, the Video Now players that i got on clearance at wally world for only $7/each were very nice to have along! ;0)

we were only about 15 minutes from the park, when i realized i'd left the tickets (that i printed out from my online order) at home.....luckily, my new handy-dandy phone allowed me to access the confirmation email that KD sent me & once i had the ticket order number, we were all set! ;0)

once inside, we took a pic in front of the "eiffel tower"

then we rode up the 275 foot tower to check out the rides from above,
to kind of map out our plan for the day

* fun fact * KD's eiffel tower is actually only 1/3 the height of the real one in Paris - wow!

we started in the kiddy area - knowing that corinn had never been on a roller coaster before (well, none any bigger than what's at the county fair).....gabby amazingly is just above 48" - meaning she is now classified as an adult (ticket wise) & can ride almost every ride in the park! (more on that in a sec)

ok, how stinkin' funny is this picture?! ~lmao~


he squeezed his booty in - and they all had a blast on the first ride of the day!

i love how this pic focused right in on the girls ;0)


each car has a camera mounted on it, so they were video taping ur face through the whole ride & u could view it as u got off the ride.....it was priceless!
well, not exactly priceless - the dvd's cost $15 a pop!
so needless to say, we passed on that purchase

we got a buggy like we always do - gosh, how i wish i could b pushed around like this all day!

except this time, jaden had to walk.....or dance...

there's music playing throughout the park & sometimes jaden would just catch the groove & couldn't help but boogie - LOVE IT! :0)

we hit the scooby doo coaster, but didn't stay in the kiddy area long....i was soooo impressed with how cool & collected corinn was on her first 2 coasters (the scooby doo one ain't no joke either - it's pretty impressive)

gabby was really getting into putting her hands up this year ;0)


next, we headed to the bigger area

here's the crew inside the spongebob squarepants 3D movie
(the seats move as u watch - i remember this playing a little days of thunder movie back in the day ~lol~)

we rode the log flume

unfortunately, corinn was too small for the white water canyon, so we didn't even mention it to the other 2 - i know they all would have loved that one (maybe next year)

us, just getting off the carousel - they all chose horses that they thought might actually jump off & ride away - like in marry poppins (too cute!)

we tried to find as many rides as we could that the whole family could ride....it was hard telling corinn she was too small (like, for the classic Rebel Yell - that gabby begged to ride 3 times!), but she took it pretty well! she'd just say, "that's ok" and would wait patiently with curtis or i, for the others to come off the ride

BUT, she was big enuff for the Avalanche, the Ricochet, the Triple Spin, and a lot of other rides that i think i would have been terrified to ride at only 4 years old!

here's us on the Triple Spin - it had us all a little dizzy afterwards (do u see Curtis, Gabby & Jaden?)


both my girls are turning out to be daredevils, just like their mama

this one especially!

this was her face after she and i got of the Drop Zone!
that's right - my 5 year old little girl rode a ride that even my 37 year old husband is too scared to ride!!!

click here to see what it's all about - but only if u dare! ;0)
(curtis had my camera, but gabby & i were seated on the wrong side & he couldn't see us)

the old guy sitting on the other side of Gabby said "well, you don't look scared at all"
she said, "cause i'm not!" and grinned!
that's my girl!!! ;0)

even tho jaden & i have been talking about riding the Volcano (my fav ride in the park) together for the last couple months, he chickened out once we were there....he didn't care one bit that his little sister was begging to ride it & couldn't (daddy wouldn't allow it - said he was afraid she might slip out, since she's so little - he said maybe next year)

jaden's favs were the bumper cars & this ride - the Flying Eagles
and yes, those are my kids screaming! ~teehee~

ok, i can't get the video to post today - and i'm tired of waiting on it.....i'll come back & post it soon

after riding a ton of rides, we headed out to the mini-van for a late picnic lunch....in packing, i found this carrot in the bag of mini carrots & packed it anyway, cause i knew the kids would get a kick out of it ;0) they did ~giggle~


after coming back into the park, we decided it was time to hit the water park....first up was a big water slide (also seen in this Drop Zone video - it's the twisty white slide that the boy is looking straight down at)

this was another ride that i was surprised corinn was allowed to go on....her butt was so tiny, she'd fall through the tube if she wasn't careful....she went ahead of me, & as i'm riding down & sliding back & forth on the half-pike-like slide, i'm thinking "oh my gosh, this is pretty intense - i know corinn is probably freaking out".....but wouldn't u know it? i get to the bottom & she's asking to ride it again! so we did! ~lol~

we also enjoyed the tidal wave pool & some other fun water slides & splash houses in the water park area

unfortunately, curtis forgot his trunks - but he's not a huge fan of the pool anyway, and that meant he was available to snap pics too ;0)

here we are floating down the lazy river - one of mama's favs since my feet were pretty tired by this point (daddy waited on a bridge for us to float under him)


we hung out in the water park until it closed at 8pm - then, we headed toward the kiddy area once more, to let corinn enjoy a few more rides


then we started back-tracking and re-riding our favorite ones from the day

the scooby-doo haunted mansion ended up being our last ride of the day.....a sweet, young couple took our only family pic from the entire day, as we waited in line

by this pic, u can DEFINITELY tell it was the end of the day! and that we played HARD!

:0)