Lagoon

We took a really quick trip to Lagoon in Farmington Utah and it. was. fun. Worth the entire 16 hours of driving. We genuinely had a wonderful time which could be construed as strange given the circumstances....But I will get to that. On Thursday night Brian had gun club so we went there first and then (at 10 pm... the latest he claims it has ever ended) we hit the road. We spent the night in Battle Mountain, picked up Ekco bright and early and forged ahead. We stopped at the platform in the Salt Flats which I have stopped at way too many times to count in my life. Growing up my grandparents and aunt and uncle lived in Utah so we made the trip as a family a lot. Additionally I lived in Utah for five years and put plenty of mileage on my car over those years as well. It's pretty handy stopping in B-town first because it breaks up the drive a lot.... but surprise surprise, I digress. I called my sister about 30 minutes out to tell her that *surprise* we were WAY earlier than we thought we would be. She characteristically had a million places she needed to be but expressed her enthusiasm nonetheless. Then, getting off her exit, my car broke down... major bummer. So, she had to squeeze in a quick sibling rescue onto her already overloaded agenda and come and get us. Then her husband took Brian to the auto parts store to get stuff to fix it. Thanks guys! It turns out the radiator cap blew so it was a quick and easy fix. I am so grateful that Brian is so handy and knows how to fix so many things. It truly makes me feel safe.
This was the first ride we went on. I didn't realize it at the time, but Xiana was definitely not even close to tall enough for this ride. Only at the end of the day did I discover the sign that said "36 inches must be accompanied by a responsible individual." First of all, I'm not sure how they define "responsible." Second of all, Xiana is 32 inches. Still, I'm glad I was blissfully unaware of this throughout the entire day because truth be told she wasn't tall enough to ride any of the rides and my sneaky approach might have given her away. Though I do remember looking back on this particular ride that went really fast, even for adults, thinking that it looked like she was going to fly right out of her seat. She was oblivious as she was thoroughly enjoying herself.
So was I :)
This is one of those free falling rides which are my favorite type. Xiana also loves them. She's so tiny, while we were up there this lady was like, "how did you get her on there? I can't get my kids (much older) to go." I chuckled as I am confident Xiana would get on any ride they would let her on. Though she did assure me several times that she didn't like either haunted houses because they were "scarrry."

We met up with two of Brian's brothers and their families and his parents and it was a blast. I really thought this trip could go either way. Xiana is still pretty little and there is a big enough age gap between her and Ekco that they could have wanted to do very different things, but that wasn't the case. Everybody (adults very much included) had a great time. The rides were fun. The visiting was fun. The whole experience was one that I don't think many will soon forget.
Another really great thing was that the weather was pretty bad. It was relatively cold and rainy. That ended up being our saving grace because it wasn't too bad to be outside and the weather scared people off so we didn't have to wait in long lines for anything.
Eric and Hunter chilling on this chilly ride. This is the one ride we got wet on. I was doing so good until right at the end I went up to try to avoid getting sprayed and nailed Xiana right in the face. She thought it was funny surprise surprise.
This was Ekco's favorite ride and I kind of feel bad that we only went on it once, but it was warm enough to enjoy the day, but cold enough to not want to be wet.

The tilt-o-whirl is a classic. We loved it and both girls like to spin fast.
This was Brian's favorite ride and I will admit, it was awesome. Still, my favorite was the new roller coaster Wicked.
The swings were fun. The glasses that Ekco is wearing she found under a bench, put them on and LOVED them. It was so funny. She wore them all day and took them home. They look really cute on her and might have been her highlight of the day..
Apparently Brian's parents have pictures of their kids when they were young on these cars so both Eric and Brian wanted these shots.
Very nostalgic.
And very cute!
Okay, so I realize this is a kiddie right, but my expression is simply due to my shock at what a decent drop this tiny little dragon had. They are really prepping these kids for the real deal.
The train that goes through the zoo is timeless (and a great way to take a little break).
As a family.
Tyson and Xiana rode together for much of the end of the day. They were in their element. Poor Jenn planned this trip and then found out she was pregnant. I'd say this was the least fun for her, though I think she still enjoyed herself despite being sick and unable to ride anything.
Watch out when these two hit the road.
Ekco in her glasses, ready to go!
We had a perfect day. After we left we headed to the Golden Corral buffet and the food was tasty (somewhat trashy, but delish.) that is until about midnight when it started disagreeing with me and then for the next 15 hours or so as I suffered from the worst food poisoning I have ever had which meant that Brian had to drive the whole 8 hours home and I had to sit in a car and feel like death warmed over the whole way. It was pretty miserable, but Lagoon was so fun.. it was worth it!