The kids each received a Crystal Palace Day Pass for Christmas from Nanny and Pappy this year and had been begging to go ever since.
Crystal Palace is an indoor amusement park with rides and games for those who don't know. We had been putting off going since they got the cards but with Coder going back to school this Tuesday, we couldn't really put if off any longer. After a ten minute struggled to get the car started (It can be tempermental) we were finally on our way. We left around lunch time so we could get there kind of early. The kids wanted a PB & J sammy before we left, a request to which I happily obliged, hoping to save a few bucks not having to feed them lunch at Crystal Palace (who's prices on food are practically criminal! 3$ for one corn dog!! I could run to the
Sobey's across the street and grab a box of them for the same price!).
Nelly had been talking about going on the "Horsey's" (AKA the merry-go-round) for, like, three days so that was the first ride she wanted to go on. "Horsey bite me? Is horsey real?" was the first thing she asked upon seeing the horses on the merry-go-round. After I assured her they we indeed fake horsey's and would not bite her, she was ready to go on it. She absolutely LOVED sitting on the horses while they went up and down. She randomly shouted "Kiddy-Up!" throughout the duration of the ride.
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| Nelly flying on the airplane! |
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| Nelly with Coder, the pilot... |
Next up were the air planes, which you sit in while they go up and down and spin around. Coder and Nelly went together on one airplane the first time, then Nelly rode solo later on in the day. Nelly also loved this and yelled "Look Daddy! Hi Daddy!" every time she went around. Coder, on the other hand, looked a little bored with that ride. Being a big boy now, he was ready for the big kid rides this time around. He insisted that he wanted to go on the roller coaster. After debating back and forth for a minute, Daddy and I decided to let him go, but Daddy had to go on with him. He tried the Roller Coaster last year with me and almost gave me a stroke by freaking out and basically trying to climb out of a moving ride. I was a bit nervous because this Coaster doesn't have over the shoulder harness just a lap bar. Last year he kept trying to pull his knees out of under the bar and I was sure he was going to fly out and fall to his death. Anyways, he went on with Daddy and did okay the first time around. The only part that scared him a bit was when it goes through a pitch black tunnel, but Daddy told him to close his eyes and he was fine. He loved it though and went on it about five more times with both Mommy and Daddy taking turns. At the end of it he was having a blast and holding his hands up in the air for the whole ride.
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| On "The Bullet" Coaster with Daddy! |
Nelly and brother went on the Choo-Choo Train together where they sat in the front car and got to toot the horn and ring the bell, which they did to no end.
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| Choo-Choo! |
Coder liked going on the big monster truck ride, where you sit in a monster truck and go around the track. Next they went on the shooting star, which you sit down in a seat and it shoots you straight up about fifteen feet in the air then drops you down bit by bit. Nelly went on too and laughed her butt off on the way up. The drop down freaked her out a bit the very first time but she was shrieking with joy by the end of it.
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| The "Shooting Star" was a hit! |
We all went on the Crazy Submarine (or whatever it's called) as a family, which is like a bus thing you sit in and go in big circles up in the air forward and backwards. Nelly loved looking out the window and laughed every time we went up because you had a view of the whole place. It was actually pretty fun and one of my favourite rides.
We took a break for a bite to eat, the kids didn't really want anything so Mommy and Daddy got something and gave them a few bites. Daddy got a poutine and I got a Nacho with cheese and salsa. It came to almost 12$ just for those two things but they were a decent size and I couldn't even finish my whole nacho. Daddy polished off his poutine and some of my nachos. After we were done eating we went back for another couple rounds on the rides.
There is a big play park built like a tree house that they wanted to go on, but poor Nelly was too small to go in it, so Coder played on that for a bit while Daddy brought Nelly on some more rides. We stopped at the arcade for a few minutes while they kids ran around "playing" the games (They weren't really playing because we didn't have any change on us, plus it is a MAJOR rip-off)." Honestly, it didn't even matter that they weren't actually playing because they still had a blast.
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| Taking turns "playing" the soccer game. |
Daddy brought Coder to play Laser Tag while I brought Nelly to get some candy out of the quarter machine and we walked around for a bit. I kept asking her if she wanted to go back on the horsey but she would simply answer "No" and keep munching on her candy fruit (You know, the mini bananas, oranges, limes, etc). We never got around to playing mini golf this time and there were a few rides that they were both too short to go on, but other than that I would say that the day was a huge success.
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| Riding the big rigs... |
We left around 5pm after Daddy brought Coder for one more round on the roller coaster. At this point Nelly was starting to get a little drowsy so I knew we better head home before a melt-down happened. I thought it was going to be a major tantrum when I said it was time to go but I think that they were so tuckered out that they couldn't be bothered. They left without a fight and both of them passed right out in the car on the drive home. Overall, we had a great day as a family and I can't wait to do it again soon.
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| Nelly ready to go home.,, |
What was the last activity the you did as a family? What is your fondest family outing memory?
