Waldameer - "woods by the sea" is what I'm told is the translation of this German word. I guess that's fitting since it is heavily wooded and you do get amazing views of Lake Erie (our inland sea) from the tops of the rides.
The very tall rides...
We went to Waldameer for our annual excursion during a friend's birthday party and pot luck. I brought pasta salad. What I thought was a totally botched up recipe.
I wanted to use tri-colour rotini but I realized the night before that I had none. Being out of elbow macaroni too, I used a mixed pasta blend from Schwan's home delivery. (This is what happens when your cabinets are packed, you can't see your pasta in the back.) I did add some pepperoni - since pepperoni makes all things good - and I also added some mozzarella cheese. The recipe called for Italian dressing and I substituted House Italian, since we have tons of that. I didn't realize until morning that there was corn in the pasta and I really questioned how it would taste. No worries. By the time we came back for drinks and more food, after a couple of hours, my container was almost empty. We brought home a bowl with about two tablespoons of salad left. So, no picture...
I did get a few hundred photos of my family....
I'm only going to show you a few of them...
The ones I can somehow make fun of.
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Let's start with Blue Eye here. This is a typical photo of the illusive man-beast known as Matthew. He's a brat (which is why I call him Brat-Boy).
Heil Hitler!
Rachel says this was her Princess Wave
-alrighty then.
Turrets or a seizure?
I'm not sure what was going on with Andrew but Matthew forgot to cover his face, or maybe it was the non-stop shutter clicking that caught him off guard and made Andrew seize.
Tech Talk
*YAWN*
Always smiling.
My pretty Mandalynn
Not to mention Mr Smiley,
William.
It's so CUUUTE!!!
Mommy's little boy and cute as a bug's ear.
Jerome
One of my extra daughter's, Tristin, just would not pose nice.
Notice the cute kid behind her.
Waiting.....
I think I was getting on their nerves by now... poor kids
Suffer!!!
Now smile for the camera.
Some of us still hadn't gotten our bracelets so this batch of kids went on this ride a few times.
It was pretty cool since we stood slightly below it and it would swing over-head very close to us.
My group of kids were in the front rows of the Ravine Flyer. Just like they were when they made me ride in the front car on the previous ride. Amazing views of the lake from waaay up there - before I closed my eyes. I don't know, but I'm thinking I'm getting weak. I couldn't watch as we did the twists and turns this time. What is wrong with me?
I'm not old.
Waiting for the ride to load.
And here comes the batch of smiling kids on the chair ride...
ummmm.....
There are some semi-smiles!
The girls LOVE this ride.
Not I, said the fly - I don't do sideways well.
Brat!
Really?
Now at least one of you looks cute in this pic...
Rachel always looks cute.
My extra daughter and my sweet son.
Twirling again...
Getting the rhythm to the lean to increase the spin...
If you notice, Rach is laughing at Matthew ducking the camera.
Wouldn't you know that it was in the 90's all week but when we go to a water park the temp drops to 73 with a brisk wind.
At least they had the hot tub.
Where they stayed for quite a while.
Peace man!
You know it's cold when the lifeguards wear jackets.
That doesn't stop some of my group.
Oh ya. The water is warm... but you have to come out sometime.
Check this out.
We arrived so early that our two cars were side by side in the fourth row.
I'll give you a hint - they are both white.
I did not take this picture. I think Matthew did.
I can't watch my kids die on this ride.
What amusement park is complete without mirrors to make you look freaky?
Sitting by his Mom, looking cute.
Isn't this pretty?
The Comet was built on it's own roof.
I don't know why this fascinates me.
*sigh*
The Coaster is a blast.
I HATE that ship!
Can you imagine how amazing the view of Lake Erie is from the top?
Hah! Caught you again!
Waiting again...
This is one of my favourite rides.
If you look carefully, you can see Rachel sticking her tongue out at me.
I really hate this ride.
William took this shot of us coming down the shoot.
At least it warmed up by this time so being wet wasn't so bad.
The sun was setting over the Lake.
The perfect time to send your kids to the stocks.
(interesting how the shortest kid was in the tallest stock, while the tallest kid was in the shortest.)
Everyone abandoned us.
The older girls went off on their own and the older boys headed of to Praise Band practice at church.
Getting tired.. off to the arcade...
Where, apparently, on of the machines was defective.
We didn't mind.
Everyone back together for the last train ride of the day.
Then to the carousel.
For a nice slow ride.
at the end of a long day.
A VERY long day.
Of course the older girls opted for the Scrambler and bouts of dizziness to close out our 11 hours in the park.
