GUMMOW SUMMER INVASION 2017

There is only one person in this world that missed the condo as much as the Evans crew did and that is Miss Heidi. She loved it so much and was so thrilled that we were going to be able to revisit our summer memories there this year. Unfortunately her schedule was crazier than anyone else's so we were only able to make it up once this time. It was pretty great though. Heidi kept saying that she couldn't believe she was back up there. I felt the same every time we went.

We went to the pool that first night on July 10. It was great to have the boys for Stella to hang with and also have Cy be able to take Vivi down the slide. She loves being with the boys just as much as Stella. It was adorable that night to watch all of the kiddos gather around the tablet to watch a show and eat popcorn together. I wish I could remember more of the details of that day, but I can't seem to remember now.

We were pretty lazy that first morning and we finally got up and going kind of late in the day. We let the kiddos have a swim. I was very determined to go to Zumba class that night. I hadn't been in like a month and I really wanted to go. On top of that Stella and I both needed to meet with the stake to get our temple recommends ready for the sealing that was coming up soon. So against Heidi's wishes, we headed down the canyon once again. We saw a moose on the way down and that was very exciting.

It was July 11th, which is the day you can get a free slurpee. I wasn't dead set on getting one but we happened to drive by a 7-11 on the way to my house and so we stopped in. It was Vivi's first slurpee, and no surprise to anyone she loved it! She looked so cute drinking it up, oh my! Heidi and I went to Zumba, Stella and I made it to our recommend interview, and we had some Chinese takeout for dinner. By the time we stopped at Sprouts to pick up a few things and get back up to the condo it was pretty late.

We actually got our little selves out the door the next morning in time to go on a nature walk. We found some good little spots and Vivi was pretty into having so many people at her beck and call. Especially when it was time to throw rocks into the water. She loved it.

After that I stayed in while Vivi had a nap and the rest of the crew went to the pool. I tried to get some sleep as well as I had not slept well that night, but a kid came in to fix the TV and show me how to make it work, so no nap for little old me. We just enjoyed even more pool time until it was finally time to clean up and head back to my house.

So the boys all wanted to go to Lagoon of course. But it is a very expensive little adventure if you don't have passes. I don't think Heidi would have taken the kids except it just happened to be the week Lagoon was celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Terror Ride and they were offering a huge discount--honestly the best I had ever seen, so it made sense that we go. We went on July 13th. I can't lie to you, we had the very best day. It was so hot, but that didn't dampen our spirits. It was so much fun. I think/know that Cy made it absolutely a hoot. He is so scared of rides, but he still goes on them and it is hilarious. His fear is genuine and he says the funniest things. We started off on the Terror Ride and of course the wait was so long and slow. Cy was so scared even before we got on the ride ("The letters are moving!" referring to the sign outside of the ride) and then the worst thing happened...we got stuck on the ride! It broke down and right at the point where this ghost comes flying at your face. It definitely made a hilarious memory, but it added a good 15-20 minutes to our time on the Terror Ride.

We made good time heading through the park. Heidi and I avoided the spinning rides, but we did all go on Wicked. We left Stella and Wyn waiting for us. It was Cy's first time and I think he liked it. Of course, riding Puff together was a real treat. It was HOT and I was pretty thankful for the free ice water refills during the day.

I'd pretty much been on every single ride in the park, but I had yet to ride OdySea. I'm crazy about the music, but you get wet and either the lines have been too long or it has been too cold so I haven't ridden it. It was so fun to ride it with Heidi. You control if you go up or down and I kind of had it backwards so Heidi kept getting wet. "I've been hit!" she yelled. The ride left me in a fit of giggles, and I loved it.

When we got over to Pioneer Village for the water rides we had some long waits, but we had fun. We got the same picture of us on the log ride as last year and we had a hoot on Rattlesnake Rapids. We rode it twice and were absolutely soaked after the second time. We all had to walk off of the ride with our legs wide apart to avoid chaffing.

We hit some more classics like Jet Star, the old carnival rides, and the bumper cars. Poor Stella had a mini meltdown as she realized she was just too short for Jet Star. Hopefully next year she can finally enjoy that classic shaky ride. I can't remember exactly, but I think we rode Cannibal right around this time too. Only Heidi and Wyn would ride with me so I talked them into riding as singles so we wouldn't hold everyone else up too much. I didn't realize how much that would scare Catcher, but he loved it and was fine.

We took the sky-ride over to the other side of the park since both Wild Mouse and the Spider had been down earlier in the day. Cy rode with Catcher and apparently he was very embarrassing as he told other kids to sit correctly on the ride so as to not fall and die.  It was a beautiful time of night, my favorite time to be at Lagoon.

So pretty much all day, Stella had been gathering up enough courage to ride the Roller Coaster. If she did, it was going to be her first big one and she was very scared. Cy and Catcher both had been telling her all day that if she was going to ride it for the first time they wanted it to be with them. I think that gave her the final push to ride it. By the time we got in our seats she was FREAKING OUT. So I did what any mom would do--I started to video her. I personally love this ride, because it is so old and I always imagine what it would have been like to ride it 100 years ago. (Cue Cy making fun of me telling him: "It is faster than their cars would drive!") Anyway, I hadn't ridden it that summer yet and couldn't remember how scary it was so I was pretty nervous for Stella too. But there was no way I wasn't going to make her give it a try, because I was about 99% sure she would love it. My brave girl did. After the first few dips she proudly exclaimed: "I love it!" It was Wyn's first big coaster too, so proud.

I tell you what, you haven't been to Lagoon until you've been with Cy Gummow. As I have mentioned he is especially scared of rides and heights and he still gives them a whirl. I was in stitches with all of his one liners while we rode the giant Ferris wheel. And the only person who was willing to ride the Rocket with me was Catcher. It was his first time and he killed me too as we kept going up and he was like: "oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" All the way up. What fun kids!

The Gummows left for Idaho straight after we left Lagoon. I know Heidi wanted to get an earlier start on the day, but she couldn't leave. We were just having too much fun. Definitely my favorite day at Lagoon this summer, no contest. I'm so glad we got that day together.