PFR Day 1

The Perkins Family Reunion was August 20-21. The first day of the reunion was at Lagoon. When my dad set the date for the reunion months ago, we didn't realize it was the last Friday open of Lagoon's regular summer season. Unforunately for us, during the last regular summer week, Lagoon ran a special: buy one pass and get one free. Friday the 20th was the last day they ran that special. I think the whole state took advantage of that special and came to the park that same day. Also, we'd unfortunately pre-purchased our tickets before that day so we couldn't even take advantage of the special. None of us have ever seen Lagoon so crowded. It was unbelievably crazy just how many people were crammed into the park that day. I was grateful that we went to Lagoon last year for the twins' birthday because the park was slower then, so we were able to do all the rides we wanted to, plus the temperatures were a lot coolor last September. In the future, I think we'll stick to only going to Lagoon in the fall!!

My mom bought us all matching shirts, which was a brilliant idea! It was easy to spot any of our family around the crowded park because of the bright blue color of the shirt. All my siblings came except my older sister Lisa and her family who live in Virginia, so there was a total of 18 of us there.

This was the first time we took Kanyon to the park, and Josh & I were both a little nervous how the day would be. Before Fall of 2009, the last time I'd taken the kids to Lagoon was when the twins were 3 & 1/2 and Ammon was 6. That was in August of 2006, and by 5:00 of the day we went, the twins were whiney and exhausted, I was irritated and impatient, and we left the park. Josh and I both anticipated the day to be like that with Kanyon, because he's at the same age that the twins were back then. But, surprisingly, Kanyon did the best out of all of us. He loved the rides, he rarely complained about waiting in line, and he was so happy all day!!!

The BEST part of the day was when we went on Rattlesnake Rapids. I just LOVE that ride! It is so much fun! It was even funner because we could all ride it almost at the same time, so we all waited in line together for 45 minutes. It also turned out to be the only time that day that all of us were together. We filled up two rafts: the girls' raft and the boys' raft (I ended up being in the boys' raft because the girls' raft was full). And we all got soaking wet on the ride! Thankfully, since it was such a hot day, we dried off rather quickly--within about an hour.

The WORST part of the day was the wait for the OdySea ride. The first time we were in line, we waited for over an hour, and when we got next to the ride, there was only room for 4 of us, so Jonah and I waited for the next turn. When the next turn came, we got on the ride, got buckled in the seats, and then the ride broke and they made us all get off. Jonah was extremely disappointed: there was crying and tears and sadness. I was so angry: there was cursing and cussing and hair pulled. A few hours later, we went past the ride and it was working again. Jonah begged to go on it. So, we got in line a second time. We waited for an hour and a half this time, and when our group got to the ride, there was only room for 2 of us, so I made sure Jonah and I went on. Thankfully, the ride actually worked that time. And Jonah loved every minute of it! But, to me, that four minutes of riding pleasure took 2 1/2 hours out of our day and was a complete waste of time. I used to like that ride too, but now I despise it. And now I hate that stupid song that it plays over and over because I listened to it for hours and hours. Smith Chevrolet in Idaho plays a similar song on their TV commercials, and now I hate their commercials too.

Here's some other highlights of the day...

Going on my favorite ride "WICKED" with Josh and Trina:

Seeing my parents go on the Turn of the Century Swings:

Taking a relaxing ride on the SkyRide across the park:

And watching the boys play in the water fountains before we left the park that night: