Saturday, July 29, 2006

Dutch Wonderland


This blog is a week late, but better late than never.

Last Sunday we traveled 1.5 hours to Amish Country, Lancaster PA, Dutch Wonderland. I had never been there before, and only heard of it about 5 years back from locals in this area. It is a really child focused amusement park. It has lots of little kiddie rides. There are a few child/adult rides, but for the most parts any kid from 1.5-5 yrs old would simply love this place.

We went with my parents and had a great time! DW is ranked the 5th best amusement park in the world according to an international amusement magazine. A neat thing to know is Idlewild Park is ranked at #2. Back to DW. Dutch Wonderland's mascot is a Purple Dragon (no, not a purple dinosaur) named Duke. That front of the park is a big castle. Nathan went on about 60% of the rides. A couple he was not too fond of were the child rollercoaster, and the whip. I went on the rollercoaster with him, and he tucked his face in my belly the whole ride. I guess he did not know how it was going to be, but wanted to ride.





The biggest mistake was putting him on the whip. It is a small ride that I have seen at other amusement pars that travels sideways around an oval track. When the car gets close to an end, it whips you around. Nathan started crying almost immediately. We should of had them stop the ride, but none of us said anything. I actually remember riding it as a child and remembered it was too rough, so I thought it could happen.



DW had a bunch of the typical kiddieland rides. It also had some really nice ones that went around the enitre park like a monorail, and sky lift. It also had a few boat rides.


When Nathan napped I dragged my mom on the older child/adult roller coaster. Amy went on it with me as well. It was pretty nice for a small park.


What makes the park great was it was relatively small, and easy to get around Enough you could cover the entire park. Plus, even with lots of kids there, there was never a really long line for any one ride. You definately get your money's worth of ride if your a kid.


The park also had a pony ride. Nathan looked really cute on it. It was his first. However, he was really sleepy, and looked like a cowboy who just got back from a long ride. He took a 1.5 hr nap after lunch.


They also had a lot of live entertainment and shows. We attended a high dive one. Where they put on a play about a frog and a princess. The frogs dived off highdives. One actually dove from a real high dive probably 100ft or so in the aire, like the ones you see on the olypics.

It was a blast.

I bid you goodnight.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Way to go Nathan!












We have been trying to potty train Nathan off and on for the past few weeks with virtually no success. Fortunately, on Saturday, Nathan did a 1 on the potty about 4 times.

Now to the best news: This evening Nathan laid his first deuce! He also dripped out an uno earlier in the day. Before he did the uno and the 2, he uno'd on the steps before Amy had a chance to get him to the potty. He's seems like he might be getting this whole potty thing afterall. I know we have a real long way to go, but its a start.

I bid you goodnight.

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Nice little vacation to the beach.

We just went to Rehoboth, Delware for a nicle little 4 night vacation. Because it is so close to where we live, 2.5 hours, we could further maximize our Monday and Friday there. This is my 3rd time going the Deleware beach. We went 2 years ago to the same hotel, and prior to that 8 years ago to Bethany Beach. This year we went with my inlaws like 2 years ago.

We had a blast. I love the beach. Granted, I used to have more fun as a kid body boarding/boggie bording, but I still enjoy walking and wading in the ocean, but now with Nathan, he brings a new type of exitement. In a few years he will probably want to go further into the water, but for now, he is getting warmed up to the idea.

Nathan loved the sand. He would dig and make sandcastles/lagoons all day if you let him. One of the best parts of the trip was the walks on the boardwalk and taking Nathn on a bunch of kiddie rides. He rode the classic boat ride, motorcycle/car (with the annoying buzzer horn), the rocket, helicopter, mini ferris wheel, and swing. He also was daring enough to try a fast car ride that goes up and down in a circle. I went on it with him. It was definately an older child to adult ride, but he loved it. I liked it too.

Another great part of any trip is the food. We ate at Grotto's Pizza, and Nicola's 2 times a piece. It't hard to top Grotto's. It is a very good pie. Nicola's is an awesome mom and pop (literally) run Itailian restaurant. There was usually an hour wait there. My momma inlaw says that they make the best Ziti she has ever had. I have to admit, they give Grotto's a run for the money on the pizza category. Plus its hard to touch their Nicabolis. I consider Nicola's the Pappy's of Rehoboth. The food the very reasonably priced, including the bear, plus it is made from scratch and is delicious. The wife owner, Joan, who is 64, is always keeping the place in line, and stops after dinner to see how the food was. She is great, and is in semi retirement only working 5 day a week shift. Also, they have Yeugling on tap. The cost of the first mug of beer is $225, and all refill mugs are just $1.00 more. It is the same price as two years ago. This place is definately in my top 20 on places to eat for atmosphere, food, and price. I love it. There is also a train constantly running on a train track above the tables the entire time. Nathan loved watching it go by.

Weather wise, we had a really hot day for our first. The second day was overcast, but still warm. So we could go to the beach that day too. We tried going to see fireworks at Bethany Beach July 4th, but mother nature put on her own fireworks, and the show was called off. We had a rain morning on our last full day there. So we did what all other beachgoers do, hit the outlets. Donna Lou would do anything to go shopping. She walked 2 miles to get from one shopping center to the other. Amy and I had a nice walk on the beach. The weather was really comfortable. Ofcourse the day we left was the best day of all. Clear, and comfortable. A high in the mid 70s and no humidity. Fortunately, we stayed after we checked out of the hotel and got some Grotto's for lunch. We also walked the boardwalk, and did not leave the beach until 2pm.

It was a great time. I could go back there anytime.