Randomness at the Fair

Roland and I went to the NYS Fair last night to see Journey in concert, but we were able to go down a bit early and walk around, people watch and grab some delicious fair food. We haven't been in a couple of years so we definitely took it all in and felt our age in certain circumstances. We stood and watched some of the crazy a@# rides and couldn't believe how much people loved them, but felt nauseous just standing there watching.
This ride started flat on the ground and ended up looking like this, straight in the air. UGH!

These swings also started on the ground where people's feet were actually touching and look how high is lifts them. Double UGH!

I couldn't get a picture of these guys faces, but they are wearing "Morph" suits that totally cover their faces. 1. That's so odd. 2. It was 80 degrees with the sun blaring and they had Lycra spandex on from head to toe.

This ride was like para gliding on your stomach. All I could think was if someone got sick and you were standing under them you were in deep trouble.

Another massively high set of swings.

No lie...we actually got to see one up close. Two donuts used as the buns with a burger in the middle.

A fair must...roasted corn!

It was a great evening filled with food, food and more food, crazy sights and great music. I have to say that I was disappointed in Journey, but Foreigner stole the show and was fantastic!

Knoebel's

It has become a tradition over the past three years to take a mini get-a-way to PA each summer with our friends The Castana's. The past two years we took the kids to Sesame Place, but this year we decided to go to a park that is a family tradition for Kristen and her whole family. I am so happy that we went because it was right up our alley. Roland and I love to tour old fashioned amusement parks and Knoebel's was as old fashioned as it gets. We truly loved every minute and can't wait to go back. There is no admission or parking fee for this park which in this day in age is not common at all. To top it off you pay per ride and most rides ranged from seventy-five cents and the most expensive ride cost two dollars and twenty-five cents. It was CRAZY cheap! The rides were all old school and many you could ride as a family which was the best part. Leah and Seth loved it. Since I am such a foodie, I appreciated the delicious food this park had to offer. It was not your standard park food, it was real food. Some of the foods we tried were...loaded baked potatoes, giant tater tots, waffle ice cream sandwiches, sausage with peppers and onions, etc. The best part was it was a Pepsi park so we were thrilled.

Seth was gung ho to try this haunted ride, but halfway through he wanted out and at the end he looked like this...HA!

There weren't enough rides for this ride diva, she loved every minute of it.

She didn't even care if she was the only person on a ride, still had a blast!

There were a ton of two to four person rides which were perfect and Seth was so great about going with his little sister.

This slide is just like the one at The Magic Forest in Lake George. The kids loved it and so did I.

Leah got to the top and was a bit apprehensive, but once we got going she was all smiles.

A muscle powered ride.

Wacky animal carousel

Seth went on this log flume twice, the first time with Ro, Lee and Jake. They didn't get wet at all. Of course the second time around they learned of a button that you could push and it would spray water at us coming around the bend. YEP, we were soaked.

Our pants were dripping, that's how soaked we were.

All four of us were able to ride the antique cars together, that was fun too!

Seth swore he was ready to ride The Phoenix, this wooden roller coaster. As we plunged down the first hill there was shear terror in his eyes. He did not throw up, but he definitely might not go on another one anytime soon. I was thrilled that he wanted to try it at five years old. That's my thrill seeker son!

Looking a little green.

Foodie pics...the most amazing tater tots in the world!

Homemade and hot from the griddle waffle ice cream sandwiches. I should be the food rep for this park, I could go around sampling their food and recommending it to people. It was THAT good.

The end of the day, the boys got soaked by the Skloosh ride. Pure joy in their eyes. I was so proud of both of my kids. No tantrums and Leah held on until 3:30pm when we got in the car and fell right asleep as we headed back. It was a great day. Thanks Castana Family for sharing this amazing place with us.

Halloween in August

Pirates in the afternoon and Halloween in August in the evening. Seth decided to dress up as a dino pirate for the evenings festivities and we didn't have a costume that fit Leah so we put her pink tutu on her as well as this cute headband with pink pony tails and she looked cute as a button.
Leah thought that carrying this bag AND getting candy put into it was the BEST. She had this huge smile on her face the entire night and loved every minute of it.

As it got heavier she got even more stubborn and would not let anyone help her no matter what.

She followed her big brother like he was the king.

I thought this costume was fantastic and creepy just the same. It is actually a friend of ours that works at Pepsi and has a campsite at Bedford. Way to go Matt, how many kids did you scare??

The Pirate Invasion

Saturday afternoon we took Seth to his very first pirate invasion and we just so happen to have seen his buddy Jacob there too! They both played the part well.
It was a bit windy on the island so Seth had a hard time keeping his hat on.

Will the good guys win or the pirates?? We weren't so sure as the guns shot and shot.

The pirates had two ships and out numbered the men on shore. What will happen??

We sat and watched in anticipation.

Roland even got a little pirate wacky in the heat.

In the end the pirates won, we were so hot that we had to dip our feet in the river and then caught some beads that the pirates threw out into the audience. It was a great afternoon with our soon to be kindergartner.

Family Vacation Week ~ Thursday ~ Sylvan Beach

After our wonderful double days at the lake we came home, slept in and got ready for another adventure. Roland had driven through Sylvan Beach for work and mentioned that it looked like a fun little hidden gem only a little over an hour away so we thought we would check it out. We are SO happy that we did because we had an utter blast at this old school amusement park from the 50s. We got there a bit early so we ate our picnic lunch right on the lake and enjoyed the beautiful weather before we hit the rides, games and junk food.
Roland packed the best picnic and we sat right on Oneida Lake.

Seth was so cute, he told us that he'd like to take our picture because the lake would be a great background. Where does he come up with these things?

At noon we headed right across the parking lot to the park and started our adventure.

This was the coolest old rickety ride. We chatted with the older gentlemen working the ride and asked him about the history and such. We asked if it was appropriate for the kids and in the end he let us all go for free...a $12 savings! It was so funny and not scary at all.

We splurged and got the sheet of 50!

Seth got to go on the rollercoaster twice, once with each of us. It was a blast, BUT...

This is what Leah looks like when she can't go on a ride. Hysterical!

They had at least five old old arcades with the most random games and such. This was a foot massager that cost ten cents and made your feet burn. They even had that Zoltar game from the movie Big. Ahhh the memories!

Cotton candy break!

This little lady couldn't get enough of this fluffy pink wonderfulness.

Seth was getting a bit angry at his sister because he didn't want to share, but had to.

Cotton candy joy!

Second try at the rollercoaster!

Last ride of the day.

Fantastic family day...to many many more!