Life Is But A Dream: The Old Abandoned Old Abandoned Amusement Park

There is a big sign at the entrance of the Denver Six Flags "Elitch Gardens" Amusement Park that says, "Not to see Elitch Gardens is not to see Denver!" Do you know how I know about that sign? Because we, the whole dang family, went to Homeschool Day at Elitch Gardens this month! And I had to laugh about that sign, because it was such a relief to finally see Denver after we have been living here for more than 10 years. :)

(And, it really isn't an Old Abandoned Amusement Park...I just used that title because it is the name of the Old Abandoned Old Abandoned Amusement Park in an episode of Phineas and Ferb. "Old Abandoned . . . twice?" Yes!)

Elitch Gardens opened only a week earlier, and it was a bit early in the season, as evidenced by the fact that it wasn't very crowded, they were only open a partial day, and the weather was a little dicey. The rides were all closed for the last half hour we were there because of a thunderstorm that blew through the area. Up until then, however, we had a great time! The kids all agreed that it was no Lagoon, but it was still a lot of fun.

Here are a few pictures of our fun day:

Mommy and Trey on the Carousel ride; this is just about the point where he decided to panic about being on that plastic horse, moving up and down. He was fine for the first 3 trips around! *Sigh!* I guess the boy knows his limits!

Disaster Canyon. Why do I always get the wet rides?

The slogan for Disaster Canyon: "Say good-bye to Dry!"

Big smiles and big fun!

More Disaster Canyon: It was a soggy buns ride!

Coco, Mom, and Trey on the Carousel ride.

Trey on the Carousel before we started moving. I should have taken note of that skeptical look in his eye!

Coco on the Carousel

Can you see Chase and Nathan (and Avery's legs)?

Courtney and Trey on a little train ride!

Courtney on the Kiddie version of the swing ride.

I think this is where she decided that Kiddie Land was, after all, a little tame for her. :)

Dad only slightly freaked everyone out on the teacup ride . . . but had a great time doing it!

Dad took the boys on the "Shipwreck Falls" ride just as the thunderstorm started. He also tricked them into staying on the bridge while another car passed through the ride, making sure they got an extra big spray of water. Now, THAT was a soggy ride!

The park officially shut down the rides at this point!

Notice Chase is not wearing glasses? They had fallen off during a ride on a wild coaster. We never did find them! Such a bummer!

Lunch with a Cutie Pie!

Poor Daddy. They can never manage a day without him! He had a few distracting phone calls, but still managed to have a pretty good day off!

I love this picture! Avery took Coco on a Kiddie Roller Coaster, and she had to bury her head in his shoulder to get through the scary moments, such as this one!

Pretty girl, having fun!

Trey and Mom, after we had gotten drenched, waiting for the others while they went on a ride without us.

We had to sneak in our own food "for the children's health reasons." What a dumb rule that you can't bring food into the park! Thankfully, we did have one person at the entrance who listened to reason, so Trey could enjoy that delicious banana muffin!