Adventureland: "The Most Best Vacation Ever"

So now that it's Fall, I thought it was about time to post about some of our Summer Highlights.  If you ask Alexa, her favorite part of the Summer was going to Adventureland with her friend, Madysen.

Alexa says, Adventureland was the "Most Best Vacation Ever!!"

It was a quick trip but the girls had so much fun.  I think Madysen's Mom, Suzanne, and I realized we're not as young as we used to be.  The trip definitely wore us out!!

It's a three hour car ride from Lincoln to Des Moines and all in all the trip went well.  We, of course, heard "Are we there yet?" a lot but the three hours went quicker than I expected.  Alexa did get a touch of car sickness because she was watching the iPad too closely but that was solved by stopping for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (yummy) and going on a little shopping spree at a really nice mall.

Once back in the car and on the interstate, Alexa declared she had an "Emergency" because she had to go potty "RIGHT NOW".  She kept saying it was an "EMERGENCY".  For some reason, Alexa's urgency made us all laugh hysterically.  I was literally crying while driving down the road because I thought this was so funny.  Luckily we did make it to the hotel in time and we all got a bit of sleep before our big day.

I think the "biggness" of the park overwhelmed Alexa at first but she warmed up to it quickly.

It was very hot and the lines were pretty long but the girls didn't know any different.  We started off the day on a giant Ferris Wheel.  She would never admit it, but it did scare Alexa at first.  It wasn't too long though before she was enjoying it all very much!  I can't say the same for Ms. Suzanne - who doesn't care for heights at all.

I can't tolerate spinny rides at all so luckily Suzanne volunteered to go on those rides with girls.  I was the photographer that got to stand in the shade!

I can handle the big roller coasters though so I had the privilege of taking Madysen on her very first roller coaster.  She was so excited and was really looking forward to it.  When we started up the hill she had her arms up high in the air.  She was so brave!  However, her mood changed pretty quickly when we coasted down the huge hill.  She told me she wanted it to stop right now and held on to me and the bar really tightly.  She didn't cry though and held it together remarkably well considering it was a pretty scary roller coaster - even for me!  She promptly told me when we got off the ride that she would never ride a big roller coaster again.  I wonder if that holds true?

Since it was getting to be mid-afternoon and we were really HOT standing in the long lines, we decided to venture over to the water park area.  Alexa was in Heaven!  Me, not so much.

What silly girls.  It was a wonderful trip that I'm sure Alexa will always remember.  She asks to go back at least once a week.  Maybe we'll try again next summer.  Thank you to Ms. Suzanne and Madysen for going with us!  It was great!