M@rinel@nd

This is also a long overdue post. At the beginning of June, Mike and I surprised the kids with a very fun day out. They knew Daddy was taking the day off so when they got out of bed, they asked, “what should we do today?” We told them we thought it would be a good day for a picnic. So we all got our picnic gear ready and away we went. When we had been driving for about 15 minutes, they started asking where we were going to which we kept answering, “on a picnic” They wouldn’t let up and really wanted to know exactly where this picnic was going to be. We finally told them that they weren’t allowed to ask any more questions because it was a surprise. When we got to Niagara Falls, Austin saw the sign for M@rinel@nd and said to Victoria, “hey, maybe we’re going to M@rinel@nd!” to which Victoria replied, “I doubt it!” LOL – we’ve told them in the past how expensive it is! Anyway, we were a tad early and so we took a little drive by the falls and the kids assumed we were going to picnic somewhere around there. However, when we pulled into the M@rinel@nd parking lot, they were so surprised and obviously so excited!

And we had such a good day. The weather was perfect and we all enjoyed the entire day. From the shows to the rides to feeding and petting beluga whales, it really is true: “Everyone loves M@rinel@nd!”

The kids (Victoria and Austin) are finally old enough to enjoy some of the bigger rides. Austin is definitely a wild rider and was so excited to try out almost anything. I’m so excited that I finally have company on rides (Mike isn’t a fan of most rides). Victoria was a little more hesitant, but once she tried a ride she loved it and couldn’t get enough.

The best part was because everyone else was in school, the park wasn’t busy at all and so there were no line ups at all.

This is the first ride we all went on. A very small ferris wheel. It was a good warm up and Mike ended up taking Samara and Denver back on it a little later. Definitely more their speed and something to do while me and the wild ones were being thrown this way and that on some of the other rides!

The killer whales were neat to see. What amazing creatures!

Samara braved the ladybug coaster. We kept asking her "are you sure" because doesn't even like going over hills in the van. But after the first twist and turn where she grabbed her stomach (and made me very nervous!), she was fine and even went on again later in the day.

Four excited kids!

Here's Austin swinging around in the air all by himself. Not sure I enjoyed watching my baby up there alone! But after he "tested it out" for us, Victoria and I joined him on the next round.

The kids (except Denver who had fallen asleep in the stroller) all got to pet and feed a beluga whale. That was a neat experience for them.

This was the most exciting part of the day for Denver. He got to ride in a rocket ship with Daddy . . . and he told everyone he saw! He still talks about it. I captured his excited in the third photo down. He had just gotten off the ride and was running toward me to tell me all about it. So cute!

As you can see we had an awesome day. We will for sure be back since we took advantage of purchasing the Fun Pass for all of us.