Isabel's first trip to Valleyfair

We took Isabel to Valleyfair for the first time today and it was a lot of fun! We bought season passes this year (have skipped the last two years because of being pregnant or having an infant) so we can go and not feel pressured to stay for more than a few hours to get our "worth" out of the ticket price. With the combination of a toddler's maximum length of time to be happy without napping, and Mommy's determination to not let her sunburn, we will go for shorter stints more often this year, rather than less often for longer days.

We started out in KidZone, which used to be the Berenstain Bears park. There was a foam ball factory in there which Isabel was OK with as long as she was in my arms for the first 10 minutes or so (there were loud noises that scared her). Eventually she was OK with getting down on the floor and helping me gather foam balls to load into the Ball Launcher! The very first ride we took her on was a Thrill Ride Level 2 (Grandmas and Great-Grandmas, gasp here). It was a rowboat where she sat in between Daddy and Mommy and the ride went around and round and rocked back and forth a bit too. She was never scared, but a bit reserved at first, but by the end she was laughing, grabbing onto the bar for leverage, and when the ride ended, she signed "more"! We have a photo but it doesn't capture the joy she really felt on this ride!

We wandered around the Kiddie Park hoping for more rides that we could go on with her, but unfortunately were disappointed that most rides only allowed the child to go. Obviously, she is far too young to be able to ride a ride by herself! So, off to the waterpark we went. I had thought to bring her swimsuit and a swim diaper last minute, so once we saw how few rides there actually were for her to partake in, we were happy we brought it.

The waterpark was a HUGE SUCCESS! When we got there she had been fussy, as she was getting tired. But the minute her little feet were put down on the bottom of the wading pool, all thoughts of fussing or sleep were a distant memory. She was MUCH braver than we thought, venturing toward the big fountains in the middle, leaning down and splashing herself in the face with water (and then laughing), and pushing our hands away when we tried to hold her hands, knowing that she would at some point slip and fall. We ended up "compromising" with her by using the straps of her swimsuit as "handles" so that we could pick her back up when she started to fall. Around and around and around the wading pool and baby lazy river she went, climbing in and out all by herself (under our watchful eyes and while we hung onto her "handles"). She would have spent hours more in that pool if we had let her, I think, but I was starting to worry about the sun even though I had liberally applied SPF 60 sunblock on her several times already! We got LOTS of great photos and hope you enjoy them as much as we have!

Next she had a snack of a pretzel with cheese, "bopped to the beat" of the music show outside the 50's Diner, and went on the carousel twice (once with Mommy on a bench and once with Daddy when she finally became OK with sitting on a horsie). Then we decided to call it a day. Came home, ate dinner, gave her a nice bath to wash all the sunblock and fair grit off, and had her promptly in bed at 7:00 (she was a very tired girl).

(P.S. Mommy and Daddy each managed to sneak in a real thrill ride while the other stayed with Isabel. Mommy went on the roller coaster Renegade, which I haven't been on yet since I was pregnant with Isabel the year it came out, and Daddy went on Extreme Swing. We each had to get a tiny taste of the thrill rides we love so much, or we might have been just a tiny bit jealous of Isabel getting to have all the fun!)

I am sure there will be more Valleyfair stories to come this summer!

Holding onto her "handles" helping her get in and out (and in and out) of the baby lazy river!

She had just splashed herself in the face and thought it was quite hilarious!

Twins game and happy late night baby!

Today Luke and I took a 1/2 day off work and went to the noon Twins game with Isabel and the Polzin family (Jenna, Aaron, and Camille). We had a bit of fiasco getting there with trying to park in downtown Minneapolis during a workday, but the girls were in really good spirits so it was OK! The game was fun but challenging with two toddlers who were getting a bit squirmy after being confined in laps for a couple of hours. (As a side note, trying to find toddler-friendly food at the Dome is also VERY challenging! Isabel liked eating pieces of a soft pretzel with cheese but by the time she was done with that, the white part of her new Twins shirt was mostly orange. We ended up buying a Southwest chicken wrap so we could feed the girls pieces of the tomato tortilla, cheese, and chicken, and it was pretty funny with Luke sitting in the middle of the two girls, handing them both pieces of food at the same time, one to each side. We called him the vending machine!

The game was depressing at first with the Twins down 5-0 to the Tigers. But, in the bottom of the seventh, we scored 6 runs and pulled ahead 6-5! After that, we had to leave because Camille was so very sleepy and Isabel wanted nothing to do with sitting down anymore (Daddy had been walking her all around the empty cheap seats close to the top of the Dome for the entire 1/2 inning before we left). We got some cute photos on Jenna's camera so I will post those soon.

After the game, I had to go to my last night of class, and I got home at 8:00 after Isabel had been in bed for an hour already. Luke was outside weed-eating when I got home, and was periodically checking the baby monitor, even though Isabel barely ever needs anything after she goes to bed (thank you once again miracle-sleeping baby!). I came inside to put away my things and get something to eat, and I heard her talking happily from her room. She does this sometimes for a minute or two, but this just went on and on, and she was clearly having a grand old time in there with her stuffed animals. Her voice sounded a little loud like her door might be open (we always close her door when she goes to sleep), so I tiptoed up the stairs and peeked in, and yep, her door was nearly all the way open. She was standing up in her crib, bouncing, talking, laughing, it was absolutely adorable and hysterically funny! I actually got the video camera and filmed just the sound of her for awhile because it was so cute. Luke and I had a good laugh about "yep, Daddy has it all under control...never fear Mommy, she is in good hands!" :)

I bet she would have just talked up there for awhile on her own and then gone back to sleep, but she was in such a good mood that I just couldn't resist getting her up for awhile. I broke my own rule and got her up for an hour, and I don't regret it one bit. That hour I spent with her, she was in one of the best moods I have probably ever seen her in. No fussing, no tantrums, she was just playing with her toys, toddling around, babbling to me, laughing at the kitties and the puppy, and having a super time. She even had a snack of Alpha-Bits and some water. She watched a bit of baseball highlights with Luke and I toward the very end of the evening, and I laid her down again at 9:30. She went down without a hitch and is sleeping now.

Babies are just so precious. Thank you, Lord, for giving me this extra hour tonight with my amazing little girl.