During Fall Break, we made the drive to Buena Park, CA to visit Knott's Berry Farm. It has been on our list for awhile now. I haven't been there in over 25 years, but it was a frequent spot during my childhood. We hit a little traffic coming in as expected, but not bad. We check-in to the hotel and D says to the receptionist, "We are going to see Snoop Dogg!" This kid cracks me up! The receptionist just looked at us as she thought he knew who that was. We explained that Snoop Dogg is a rap artist and we are here to see Snoopy. After we got that straightened out, we headed to the room. We splurged and paid for the themed room with plushes. I know, more plushes. They loved it! We showered and made our way to dinner. It wasn't busy in general as San Diego was hosting their Kids Stay Free month and I'm guessing a lot of families headed there. The restaurant was practically vacant, but people might have been watching the debate as more started to trickle in around 7. I was definitely seeing some Amber Waves after drinking a pint of Red Trolley!
After dinner, we headed back to the room. We ran into Snoopy in the lobby. As soon as he heard his name, he came right over and took a picture with the boys. We took some pics on our floor too and looked at all of the cool decorations and Peanuts characters. It was too perfect because "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" was on! We watched that and then we had a knock at the door. We didn't tell the kids that there was another little surprise. We answered the door and it was Snoopy dressed in his pj's there to tuck the boys in. They just thought that was so fun and T was tickled to have this huge walking Snoopy in his room. Snoopy doesn't talk, but he makes a kissing noise. Too cute! They didn't want to sleep after that and we all stayed up just talking.
Because the park opened at 10 a.m., we had some time to use the pool. The boys had fun darting from pool to splash pad. It was really warm, like 95 degrees. So much for escaping the heat. When we got to the park, there were several Peanuts characters there at the entrance. T's favorite is Linus and sure enough, he was there! T is affectionate, but it's only on his terms. The way he smiled and hugged this character was really special. Oh, I could feel the tears coming. Great Lindsay, don't come unglued yet. We just got here. We watched a couple of the shows. The first one was at an old-timey saloon in Ghost Town. It was one of those interactive performances. The scenario is this gal is waiting and wondering if she'll ever get married and should she marry her current bow. The gal asked for folks to tell how many years they had been married. I yelled out 14 as we are nearing year 15. The show went on and the prospective bow came out and did his scene. He proposes and the gal is weighing her options asking for advice. I yelled out," Think about it!" I was sitting upstairs and she looked up at me and said, "What has 14 years of marriage done to you honey?!" It was too funny!
They played some games, saw another show, and checked out the shops. It was time to get on some rides. We did the very tame Miner's Ride. It felt longer than what I remembered, but I forgot about the steam and several loud whistles. The boys cupped their ears and kept them that way for the entire ride. We exited that ride and went straight to the line for the Log Ride, my favorite. No lines at all really. It was like a dream come true. As we are in line standing at the markers for the next log, D starts in with his questions. Is this scary? How many drops? Am I going to like this? Maybe I shouldn't do this? I thought for sure they had seen the mountain with the water coming out of it, but they seldom look up. We assured them that they could handle it and we coaxed them onto the ride.
D sat in front with me. I had one arm around him, my knees pinned to his sides, and the other arm holding onto the side railing. I could feel his little heart beating so fast! I forgot that the first drop is in the dark. Woops! They survived. We got a little wet which I guess they weren't expecting, hello water! We make the climb to the next and final drop and D is saying all things doom and dread. I was screaming with joy as was my hubby. It was so much fun! I could, would, and should have done that 20 more times. The kids? Well, we stopped and looked at the photo booth afterwards. Sheer terror on their faces while the parents are all smiles. That was it. They declared no more rides and were ready for lunch. So, we went on a total of two rides. Count 'em, two. They were mad at us for awhile because it was scary for them. I told them that they'd love it in a few more years.
After lunch, it was about that time where you are either going to stay on at the park or get going because TRAFFIC starts early. What should have been a 5 hour drive took 7.5 hours to get home. The I-10 freeway is rightly dubbed America's Deadliest. It's a straight shot, so it's a boring drive. Drivers can start to doze and truck drivers can get tired. We knew that we'd be driving back in the dark. It was crazy watching the huge semis start to come over in our lane! When it happened a third time, my husband says, "Woah, I shouldn't have had that second hit of blow!" I started cracking up! So every time a huge truck started to swerve a little, we'd just start laughing! We got home safely and it was a quick trip away. I'm going to see if I can scan the Log Ride photo. It is hysterical and so worth the cash:)
Snoopy and the boys in the hotel lobby
Snoopy Tuck
T w/ Linus
It looks like you all had anice amazing time making memories. I love seeing your boys grow. And they looked like they had an amazing time. Next fall break you need to go to Disney World and a stay on The beach (hint hint).
So much love,
Samantha