Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day outside. The sun was out and the temperatures were in the mid-70's. We went to a street fair, did a good amount of yard work and then a friend of mine came up from Baltimore and we had dinner on the deck with some lovely beverages. Sunday was to bring the temperature up to 80 with a slight chance of an afternoon/early evening shower. The kids were up for another trip to
Dutch Wonderland and so was I. When we left our house the temps were in the upper 70's and you could already feel the warmth of the sun. There wasn't a cloud in sight. About 20 minutes into our journey to the park there wasn't a ray of sunshine in the sky and the thermometer had drooped almost 10 degrees. It was a bit overcast and gloomy most of the day, but we arrived at the park around 12:15 and were ready to make the most out of our day. I gotta say, Dutch Wonderland really works some magic. Both my boys had been wound up for days and Elias had been in a crabby mood for just as long. Elias and Tanner were both perfect angels full of youthful energy and excitement all day long. It made for an extra nice day!
Dutch Wonderland used to have a really big multi-lane Giant Slide - which were apparently all the theme park rage back in the 70's. For whatever reason, DW took out the original slide a few years ago and but in two three-lane portable
Fun Slides. They're not quite as nice, but they get the job done. Here's Elias and Tanner racing each other - which was a nice surprise because the girl at the top of the ride last time wouldn't let anybody race. (Booooo!)
The first weekend we went to DW, Tanner won a little green plush duck at the duck pond game. Both the kids really took to the little guy and he's become their Dutch Wonderland trip mascot. Elias really wanted one, so I let him play but instead of winning the small sized duck he wanted - he actually won a medium. Elias was disappointed and I asked the girl working if he could just have a small. She gave him three small ducks since that was the trade-up value. Elias and Tanner might as well have been handed the keys to their own toy store. They were beside themselves with joy over having a collection of four of these (cheap) ducks. They went on all the rides with them, they all got names and they were just so pleased with the whole ordeal.
One of the unique (and not very publicized) attractions at the park is letterboxing. That's where you follow a trail of clues to find a hidden surprise. There are three hidden throughout the park. You can print out the clues at home or load them onto your phone. I loaded them up while the kids were on a ride and we found two of them. We do alot of letterboxing in the summer, so they were pretty excited to get a chance to do it in the park. The boys could not have been more excited when they found the two boxes we looked for. Inside the box is a giant stamp (we stamped our season pass coupon books) and a journal to record your name and when you found the box. Since it's the beginning of the season, there weren't many names in the book yet.
Turtle Whirl is basically a Tilt-A-Whirl. Tanner has been dead set against riding it but decided to give it a try this past weekend. He was instantly hooked and the two of them rode it eight consecutive times. As for me, I sat on a bench because spinney rides make me sick to my stomach! Turtle Whirl quickly rose to the top of the boys list of favorite rides. You might remember this ride from John and Kate Plus 8 in the episode where they took the kids to an amusement park. It was Dutch Wonderland, and I remember there was some kind of Gossling meltdown right in front of the Turtle Whirl.
This weekend was the opening weekend for
The Wanderers, a fantastic strolling band that
performs throughout the park. We caught them earlier in the day by the monorail station where they played Name That Tune with movie songs. Of course, Elias got several right and impressed the guys in the band with his movie knowledge. At the end of the day we caught them again in the courtyard along with the park mascots
Duke the Dragon,
Princess Brooke and
Sir Brandon. Here's a shot of everybody (including the characters) doing the Hokey Pokey. A fun ending to another fun trip!
Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day outside. The sun was out and the temperatures were in the mid-70's. We went to a street fair, did a good amount of yard work and then a friend of mine came up from Baltimore and we had dinner on the deck with some lovely beverages. Sunday was to bring the temperature up to 80 with a slight chance of an afternoon/early evening shower. The kids were up for another trip to Dutch Wonderland and so was I. When we left our house the temps were in the upper 70's and you could already feel the warmth of the sun. There wasn't a cloud in sight. About 20 minutes into our journey to the park there wasn't a ray of sunshine in the sky and the thermometer had drooped almost 10 degrees. It was a bit overcast and gloomy most of the day, but we arrived at the park around 12:15 and were ready to make the most out of our day. I gotta say, Dutch Wonderland really works some magic. Both my boys had been wound up for days and Elias had been in a crabby mood for just as long. Elias and Tanner were both perfect angels full of youthful energy and excitement all day long. It made for an extra nice day!
Dutch Wonderland used to have a really big multi-lane Giant Slide - which were apparently all the theme park rage back in the 70's. For whatever reason, DW took out the original slide a few years ago and but in two three-lane portable Fun Slides. They're not quite as nice, but they get the job done. Here's Elias and Tanner racing each other - which was a nice surprise because the girl at the top of the ride last time wouldn't let anybody race. (Booooo!)
The first weekend we went to DW, Tanner won a little green plush duck at the duck pond game. Both the kids really took to the little guy and he's become their Dutch Wonderland trip mascot. Elias really wanted one, so I let him play but instead of winning the small sized duck he wanted - he actually won a medium. Elias was disappointed and I asked the girl working if he could just have a small. She gave him three small ducks since that was the trade-up value. Elias and Tanner might as well have been handed the keys to their own toy store. They were beside themselves with joy over having a collection of four of these (cheap) ducks. They went on all the rides with them, they all got names and they were just so pleased with the whole ordeal.
One of the unique (and not very publicized) attractions at the park is letterboxing. That's where you follow a trail of clues to find a hidden surprise. There are three hidden throughout the park. You can print out the clues at home or load them onto your phone. I loaded them up while the kids were on a ride and we found two of them. We do alot of letterboxing in the summer, so they were pretty excited to get a chance to do it in the park. The boys could not have been more excited when they found the two boxes we looked for. Inside the box is a giant stamp (we stamped our season pass coupon books) and a journal to record your name and when you found the box. Since it's the beginning of the season, there weren't many names in the book yet.
Turtle Whirl is basically a Tilt-A-Whirl. Tanner has been dead set against riding it but decided to give it a try this past weekend. He was instantly hooked and the two of them rode it eight consecutive times. As for me, I sat on a bench because spinney rides make me sick to my stomach! Turtle Whirl quickly rose to the top of the boys list of favorite rides. You might remember this ride from John and Kate Plus 8 in the episode where they took the kids to an amusement park. It was Dutch Wonderland, and I remember there was some kind of Gossling meltdown right in front of the Turtle Whirl.
This weekend was the opening weekend for The Wanderers, a fantastic strolling band that performs throughout the park. We caught them earlier in the day by the monorail station where they played Name That Tune with movie songs. Of course, Elias got several right and impressed the guys in the band with his movie knowledge. At the end of the day we caught them again in the courtyard along with the park mascots Duke the Dragon, Princess Brooke and Sir Brandon. Here's a shot of everybody (including the characters) doing the Hokey Pokey. A fun ending to another fun trip!
Glad to see the boys enjoying their time at DW. The band is the highlight of the park. Usually they don't get their til Memorial Day weekend. That is awesome. The sad thing though is the fact that it sounds like the same line up of songs from last year. :( Anyway we must have been passing eachother some time during the day. We were at church for a longer amount of time since mom and I became members and had a luncheon in the afternoon. One day we will bump right into eachother. Until then keep rocking.
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