Music in the Parks tour, Day 2

On the 2nd day of our Music in the Parks tour, Saturday May 30, we had an early start due to the morning's band and choir competitions. After the yummy complimentary breakfast at the hotel, we left around 7:30am, drove to the school that the competition was being held at (it was a super nice, new Junior High, and since we have super old, crappy school buildings, we were all impressed with it!) and our band was very first on the schedule. It's hard to play instruments so early in the morning, but I thought they did well considering!

They played 3 songs: one warm-up song, and 2 competition songs that they were judged on. Ammon did a good job playing the trumpet!

He also had a solo part that I captured the end of:

Ammon and his roommates had {stupidly} stayed up ALL night, due to a dare that the first person to fall asleep would get his legs shaved, so the boys who did that were very, very tired as evidenced by this photo I took during the band's performance:

Every member of the band except one was able to come on the trip!

There was about an hour between our band and our choir's performances, so in between we listened to some of the groups from other schools.

Then it was our choir's turn. They sang two songs in the competition, and did a good job as well.

Almost the entire choir came: three of its members didn't join us on the trip. 

I didn't think it was possible to love a music trip more than I did last year, but I do believe this year was even better in some ways: all of the youth in the group were such awesome kids, the chaperones were awesome, and I think I was emotionally feeling better than I did last year (I found out on the music tour last year that I wouldn't be teaching music the upcoming schoolyear, which put a damper on my experience)! The kids were so fun to be around, and had positive attitudes, and we all had such a good time! It was a pure delight to be with them for 3 days and to be one of their chaperones! 

All of the high schoolers and their director Mr. Anderson

The whole group doing "Annie Get Your Gun" poses!

 After our judged performances were done, we headed to LAGOON!!! Our stamped hands all said "#1 for FUN".

We got there at 11:00, which is when most of the rides open. The group I spent the day with went straight to Wicked (my favorite!), hoping to avoid a long line, but that was just wishful thinking! It was beautiful weather, and it was the first Saturday in weeks that it hadn't rained, so the crowds were huge in number!

I saw glimpses of Ammon occasionally throughout the day. When we stopped for lunch, he was there, too.

Unfortunately, shortly after this photo was taken, the effects of staying up all night, walking too much in the heat, and eating spicy food for lunch caught up to him and his buddies. They all felt sick. Ammon said he felt nauseous, tired, and had a headache, and they wanted to leave, and it was only around 1:00 at that point! They took a nap on the shady grass in the Pioneer area, they took some Tums, and I gave Ammon some Ibuprofen and bought him a large water, too. After about 2 hours, they started to feel better, and I'm so glad. It was a lesson that needed to be learned: do NOT stay up all night the night before competition and a fun, full day at Lagoon! I'm glad they were able to enjoy the rest of the afternoon with us.

After lunch, the adult group that I was with watched the live musical show "Live in Living Color" at the main Lagoon stage, and just loved it!  I've honestly never watched a production at Lagoon before, because I've always felt like we paid to ride the rides, not see a show, but I was so wrong! It only lasted 30 minutes, and was so worth it! The show included popular songs from the 60s to the 80s and  broadway show tunes. I was very impressed with all the costume changes, the amount of songs and choreography that the performers learned, and how quick/well each transition was.

It was getting hot, so we headed to Pioneer Village to do the water rides. Three of the kids didn't want to wait for their sick friends (who were still napping on the lawn), so they joined us in line for the Rattlesnake Rapids!

This is another of my favorite rides! Our boat didn't get too wet until the end, and I think Maleah got the worst of it!

Wet riders at the end of riding Rattlesnake Rapids

We went on the Log Flume after this, and waited in line for forever! But actually, I didn't mind at all. I have never been to an amusement park with just adults, I've always either been a kid or have taken little kids. It felt so wonderful to not have to worry about taking care of the needs of kids' or their complaints ("I'm hungry, I'm tired, I'm hot, I need to go pee, how much longer, I wanna go..."). We spent so much time talking and laughing together the whole day while we waited in line. It was a group of adults that I normally don't hang around, but we all got along super well. They were wonderful people, with senses of humor, and good attitudes, and I enjoyed learning more about everyone in our group, and spending the day with them!

Sometimes, we caught up with other groups, and joined together in the line, and that was fun, too. I liked being around the energetic youth who were also having a great time!

Waiting in line for "The Bat". Ethan is part bat apparently: he can fly!

At 5:00, we met at the Pioneer Pavilion for awards in the Music in the Parks competition. I don't know why I didn't take a single picture of it, but we came home with two big trophies for our ratings and placement in the competition. Then everyone dispersed quickly and went back to riding rides. Our group headed for the northern end of the park.

Dylan & Annie

When we went on Jet Star the first time, we somehow squished 8 of us into the cart. I was in the very back with Annie and Dylan, Darcy was in the middle with John and Jett, and Ammon and Emmy were in the front. We were packed in like sardines! I could barely breathe, it was such a tight fit. So tight, in fact, that when we went down and around the first hill, the seatbelt couldn't handle the weight, and it split apart! Dylan said he was freaking out, but due to my bosom holding us in the back, he didn't budge from his seat despite no longer having the seatbelt around him! I laughed so hard the entire ride! Ammon said they were much looser up front: when they went down and around, Emmy's head whipped back and hit him in the head, and that's all he can pretty much remember from that ride! It was definitely a memorable one!!! The second time, we had a few more kids join us, so we split up into more groups that fit better into 2 carts:

Jett, John, Teva, Jodi, Hannah, Hunter

While a lot of the group went on Samurai (I am not even remotely interesting in riding that crazy ride), I rode on the Bat again, but with Jarred this time. I laughed so hard while riding the Bat, that both times I was on that ride, I peed just a little. TMI? Too late! While walking back to join the group, Dylan and I almost stepped in puke from someone who had ridden Samurai (Ewwwww! Another reason not to ride Samurai!). The remainder of our group were still in line, so I went and got in line for the nearby Rocket Re-Entry. It was similar to the ride I rode at the top of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas. Ammon and Darcy joined me in line after they were done riding Samurai, and we were at a standstill in line for over 20 minutes due to the ride technician who pushed a wrong button after flirting with some girls on the ride. Boys can be so dumb!

The ride takes you up high slowly, then drops you back down super fast. Dylan texted me while were in line and said "Don't Pee, Don't want it to rain" (he sat by me the first time I was on the Bat).  Hahaha, I thought it was sooo funny!

Dylan took a selfie with my camera while waiting for us on the Rocket Ride.
This happened several times during the day when people took care of my
camera for me while I was on rides. It was fun to find surprise pics!

FINALLY it was our turn to go! Ammon was so nervous, and kept saying as we were going up "It's so high, it's so high, it's so high!"!

Going Up, Up, Up!

Dylan took this video for us. You can see Ammon's legs nervously shaking the whole way up, then after we come down, I'm laughing so hard and saying "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh" as I'm laughing. It's hard to see/hear it all, but I'm so glad that Dylan recorded it for us!

Still smiling on the way down at the end of the ride

We stayed at the park until 10:00 that night. I didn't go on a ton of rides during the day (only 8 different ones), but I went on some rides that I've never been on before, and went multiple times on rides that I liked. In addition to the rides I already talked about, I also went on the wooden Roller Coaster twice and Spider twice (I've never been on it before and just loved it!). It was a bummer that Cannibal (the new ride) wasn't open yet, though. The very last ride I took that day was Wicked (it was my first ride of the day AND my last!), and I rode it with Maleah and Trey.

It was THE funnest day at Lagoon I've ever had, and the funnest day I've had so far this summer. I laughed SO hard all day that my stomach was sore the next day! I was so happy for good weather, fabulous company, fun rides and entertainment, and I enjoyed the whole experience immensely!