Sunday, August 03, 2008

Vacation - Day 3 - The Rides!

You can't go on vacation to Myrtle Beach without going to ride rides. Although it is not the same with the Pavilion being no more, my children have enjoyed the rides at The Family Kingdom every year! Nana has always insisted on taking and paying for Drew and Mikayla (and all of her grandchildrens) wristbands. Drew and Mikayla look forward to this every year, just as my brother, sister, and I used to. The rides are always one of the highlights of our trip each year! So after Nana and Trey met us at our hotel, we headed to The Filling Station, and all you can eat pizza buffet, for dinner. The neat part about that restaurant is that I distinctly remember eating there with my family on vacations and also while we lived at the beach. Although the restaurant has changed locations (it is not bigger and can accommodate more diners), the same bus boy is working there that worked there when I was small. How do I know this, you might ask? He sings/performs as he buses tables. That's why, I'm sure, I have such vivid memories of this restaurant. Craig and I are thinking that we will make this another yearly tradition at the beach! After a wonderful dinner, we headed to the rides!!!

One of Drew's favorite rides are the swings - he rode them for the first time last year, and now they are always first.

Drew and Trey also love riding the Hurricane, another ride that Drew just started riding last year. Drew is at a "middle stage" right now - not tall enough to ride all of the "big rides" by himself, but almost too tall to ride the "kiddie rides". He is still our brave, fearless child who wants to try them all - at least once.

Mikayla, though, doesn't like the loud noises at all. The loud music blaring from the Hurricane hurt her ears.

Mikayla loves the "kiddie cars" that go around the track, but right after this picture was taking she started crying. When I asked the attendant to check on her before they started the ride, we found out that the reason she was crying is because her seat belt was not buckled. The other attendant was going around buckling children up and had not gotten to Mikayla's car yet. She was terrified that they were going to start the ride without her being buckled. Once she was buckled, she was fine, though you won't find her mashing the buttons to make all those "honking" sounds.

Mikayla was afraid to ride these "twirling berries", so Nana rode with her to show her there was really nothing to them. She is so funny when it comes to rides - she is our cautious child anyway, but she will ride some rides that I think she won't, and then others that aren't really "scary" she won't ride. She is a little like me where she wants to know exactly what is going to happen to her on each ride. You can't really see the inside of these, so I think that's why she wouldn't ride. She was all smiles coming off!

Drew flies high on the airplanes!

All smiles on the bumper cars - Drew wanted to ride the "big bumpers", but the attendant said he was too short. He was just as happy on these "kiddie bumpers"!

Mikayla, daddy, Drew, and Craig all enjoy riding the train. Craig had bought a wristband for himself thinking that he would ride the big roller coaster with Drew and Trey. I was waiting to get a picture of that because those of you who know Craig know how afraid he is of things - he doesn't ride anything that goes 'round and 'round fast, and he doesn't like my favorite ride (the Pirate Ship) at all, and his mom and Nanny love telling the story of how he was too afraid to even walk under it as a child. They ended up not riding because Craig said he didn't want to wait in the long line - yeah sure Craig we know that's the real reason!

Both of our children love the Merry Go 'Round - which has always been one of my favorites!

Mikayla loves these motorcycles, after riding them for the first time last year. It always has to be the pink one!

They also always enjoy driving these cars. Drew was insisting that he was going to ride by himself this year, so he did. Craig chauffeurs Mikayla around the tracks - when I asked why she didn't drive, he said "she didn't want to". Yeah right, we know these are really more your speed, daddy - LOL!

Drew, Trey, and Mikayla are stopped at the top of the "kiddie Ferris wheel". Mikayla jumped on with the boys with no hesitation. Nana asked if Craig was going to ride the "big Ferris wheel" with them, but he didn't. Now, I can't really blame him for that because I don't ride those things myself - especially not the "tallest one in SC".

Drew, Mikayla, and Trey rode the "kiddie coaster" even if they didn't get to ride the "big coaster". I'm not sure why they were giving my "fake smiles". Craig would say "because they were ready for you to put that camera away".

The last ride of the night was the most entertaining - at least for Nana and I though Mikayla would not agree. Drew was terrified of the Log Flume last year when he and Trey rode by themselves. This year Drew agreed to ride again - only if daddy would ride with him and he didn't want to ride at the front again. I couldn't believe it when, after crying that she didn't want to ride, Mikayla decided to climb on with them. After the first drop, Craig said she wished she hadn't decided to ride and kept asking over and over "is it over?". By the time they came up to unload right here, she was screaming to get off. When we asked if she would ride again next year, she shakes her head and says "I don't think I will". They have a camera mounted that gets a picture of the riders coming down the big hill, and I had to purchase it again this year - it is hilarious. Craig has his mouth opened and looks as scared as Mikayla. Drew had a scared look again in that picture, but at least this year he wasn't trying to climb out of the boat before it was time to unload. We had so much fun at the rides, as usual, and even I can't wait to go back next year. I think next year we will all get wristbands...

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