A Halloween Party Fit for a King!

During the weekend of October 5-6, we returned to Kings Island for their Halloween festivities. On Saturday we went to the Kids' "Hallopalooza" event housed in the water park area. There, Emma enjoyed seeing the Peanuts characters dressed up in Halloween costumes, playing games, walking through a Mother Goose-themed candy maze, talking to a witch, going to a petting zoo, and riding a kid-sized tractor, and decorating a Halloween cookie. The highlight of our visit to this area was the costume parade, where Emma got to wear her new costume for the first time. She decided to be a Lalaloopsy doll this year, which is kind of like a Raggedy Ann doll. The yarn hair wig was adorable! Even though she didn't win a prize for her costume, we of course thought she was the cutest contestant! We also enjoyed some of the "regular" rides and attractions throughout the park, and Emma went on the adult-sized bumper cars for the first time(riding with Mom). As the day wore on, the park became more and more crowded as people showed up for the "scary" stuff that only happens after dark. When we'd had enough of the crowds and rain, we went to our hotel, where we enjoyed the indoor pool and hot tub. The next day we returned to Kings Island. The rain was just letting up when we arrived around noon, and the sun even came out for a while. It was quite a contrast from the day before...Saturday was one of the busiest days we've ever seen there, and Sunday was one of the least crowded ever! We rode most of the rides with little or no wait. We got a good look at the new roller coaster being built, which was barely started a month ago and now has the entire first lift hill finished. Emma also enjoyed trick-or-treating with the dinosaurs in the "Dinosaurs Alive!" area. The animatronic dinosaurs were dressed in Halloween costumes designed by kids with serious illnesses. After that, we were able to squeeze in a few more rides before the rain set in again, driving us indoors for a magic show. We also took a few turns on Emma's favorite indoor ride, "Boo Blasters" haunted house, as well as 5 consecutive rides on her favorite roller coaster, "Woodstock Express." Todd broke away for a few minutes to ride his favorite coaster, "The Beast," while I took 2 consecutive rides on my favorite, "Diamondback." In spite of the rain, having such small crowds made us feel like we owned the place!

Happy Birthday, Grandma Pat!

The last weekend in September, we got together with Grandma Pat, Papa Isch, Aunt Kristen, Uncle Jason, Aunt Linda, Grandma Coe, and Grandma Karen for a birthday dinner at Malabar Inn Restaurant. Afterwards, we went over to Malabar Farm State Park to admire the new paint job and other improvements made to "The Big House." Then we went to Mom and Dad's for cake!

Toledo Treats!

In mid-September we headed up to Toledo for a belated birthday gift from Grandma Karen...a trip to the Valentine Theater for a production of Emma's favorite dancer, Angelina Ballerina! Although Angelina's character is a work of fiction, the show at the theater was live, with real ballet dancers (with a little tap, jazz, and hip-hop, too)! Afterwards, we went to Emma's favorite store, Build-a-Bear, where she picked out and stuffed a new bear (compliments of a birthday gift card from Aunt Mary) and picked out a couple new bear outfits (compliments of Grandma Karen)! We met Aunt Sarah, Courtney, "Baby" David, Grandma Sheila, and Papa Norm later on for dinner, where Emma and David (now two 1/2) toured the restaurant hand-in-hand. Then the "girls" went shopping at Kohl's, where Grandma Sheila treated us all to some new outfits. On Sunday, Todd, Emma and I were treated to an afternoon of beautiful weather at the Toledo Zoo!

Emma, Graceful Ballerina!

Emma began ballet lessons in early September, and she loves it so far! Although she goes just once a week, she is quickly learning the positions and language of a ballerina!

Goodbye Summer, Hello New Rides!

On Labor Day weekend, the day after Emma's birthday party, we headed off to Kings Island to give summer a sendoff (sigh). What we hadn't counted on was Emma reaching the next height limit for rides-48 inches. When did that happen?! When we were at Disney World a month before, she was just shy of that mark, which excluded her from a few rides. Now, she was suddenly tall enough for several new rides. She was up for some of them, such as Flight Deck roller coaster, which swings from the bottom of the track; Adventure Express, which has more curves than drops; and Zephyr (aka "the swings"). However, she wasn't ready to try The Racer, which was much taller, or the famous Beast, which was much faster...maybe next year! We also got our first view of the new roller coaster being built, the Banshee. It's scheduled to open next April when the park reopens for the season.**Our second day there, we headed to Soak City, Kings Island's water park, which was closing for the season at the end of the day. Emma was able to ride new water slides, including one that went straight down, one that curved around another, and a slide that we rode together on a giant inner tube that ended with a spin in a giant funnel!