Michigan Adventure - the mini-vacation that wasn't

Last Sunday we took a little mini-trip to the west coast of Michigan. Our objective was to go to Michigan Adventure - a amusement/water park, go to the beach, sand dunes, and go tubing. Well, the weather was not our friend. On our way there, we had to make a last minute change of plans and go to the amusement park that day instead of on Monday - the next day. The weather was forecasted to have a 60 percent chance of rain on Monday, and only a 30 percent chance on Sunday. So we took a gamble and went on Sunday.

It was pretty humid when we got there. But the sun was out, and the clouds were at a minimum, so that was good. HOWEVER, within seconds of entering the park, I got stung by a bee. In my neck. And. It. Hurt. BAD. But, I got over it, not wanting to bring a black cloud on our trip.

While everyone was on the roller coaster - Zach's Zoomer - Paige and I went on the car ride. She LOVED it. She got to "drive" the car. We were not allowed to take pictures while on the ride, so I had to sneak this one in:

Here they are on the roller coaster - which, Emily did not like. My girl is not like her Mama. Not a thrill seeker at all.

So while our friends went on the Corkscrew coaster, Emily played the part of a nice big sister, and went on all the kiddie rides with Paige. 

They went on another car ride.

They went on the motorcycle ride - a Paige favorite.

The boat ride. The poor ride operator - they have to listen to the kids clanging on that bell all day long. I would have a headache.

Then we all met up again, and did the bumper cars. Of course, who did the driving? Luckily, Emily was OK with that.

Emily decided to try being a thrill seeker, and went on the Pirate Ship ride - hated that. Which, by the way, is not my favorite either. She did the log flume ride - which she liked, until she had to go down the hill. And then, we talked her into going on the Mad Mouse ride. She was a little grumpy about it - see below picture. BUT, she LIKED it. Which is quite surprising, because I thought it was a bit scary myself. She was even willing to do it again.

Oh, and there was the frog hopper. Very funny.

After all of that, we went back to the car, tailgated for lunch, got in our swimsuits, and headed to the waterpark. I have no pictures of this - because, HELLO it was a WATERpark. A camera would not be a good idea. But I can tell you, we did the lazy river - Emily and Paige LOVED that, the wave pool - another hit with the girls, and the playzone - another hit. W would have done some water slides, but the lines were INSANE. 

Then, the CLOUDS came. And so did the winds. So, we quickly changed back into our street clothes, and did some more rides.

Eric, Bob and the girls did the Carousel and the Ferris Wheel, while Ginger, Noah and I did the suspended roller coaster. The weather continued rolling in.
We decided to stand in line again for the Mad Mouse, and almost got to ride it. They closed it right when we got to the front of the line. Apparently, lightning was in the area. Oh well. We decided to high tail it out of there, before it started to pour.

The rest of the trip went like this: checked into hotel, quickly settled and went out to dinner, had mediocre food and horrible service, went back to hotel and went to bed, woke up to rain, lots of rain, check the radar and saw nothing but storms coming in, decided to go swimming at the hotel indoor pool and wait out the storm, swimming was not all the great because the pool was over-chlorinated, decided to go see G-Force at a local theater - Paige and I stayed back at the hotel, returned from movie with a sick Emily and a overheated minivan - not ours, our traveling companions, ate lunch, Eric and Bob got to auto parts store, Emily throws-up, room gets re-cleaned, Ginger and I beg hotel to let us check out today without paying for the whole night - they do, for a $20 late checkout fee, race up to the room to pack EVERYTHING in 20 minutes, leave the hotel, drive home, see blue skies and NO RAIN, wish we had just stuck with our original plan of going to the park on Monday, get home, collapse in bed at 9pm. 

Oh well. We had fun. We have a story. And we all SURVIVED. Life is good.

This is Paige watching our yearly family slide shows on my computer while the rest of the clan were at the movies. She was as happy as a clam.
Which reminds me.....exactly how happy is a clam?