Going to the Gardens

On Sunday we took Drew to Gilroy Gardens for his annual birthday excursion - his present from us.  This is a young kid's dream... to have a theme park just for them, with rides designed just for his age.   What's even better is that it's only open 10-6 so it's not a brutal all day thing the way Disneyland is.

Here's the professional shot I snagged... which is why it says proof :)

Drew loved the rides, many of which Mommy and Daddy couldn't ride because we're too big.

First up, some spinning tubs...

And then a little cheese-face with the goldfish.

Mommy and Daddy wanted to get in on the action so we rode the train which takes us around the park, and we were able to scope out the various rides we could hit.

It's not a park without a carousel!

We hit the water/splash park area early on while it was still cool.  But we would come back to cool off later!  Of course we forgot to bring Drew's swim suit, but he didn't care.

There were some fun waterfalls that Daddy and Drew were able to walk/run behind.  I think this was one of the highlights for Drew.

We all were able to hit up a Ferris Wheel - Drew's first ever.

When we happened upon a playground we had to take a few minutes break so Drew could play...

He finally became brave enough to tackle the twisty slide - he's always so nervous they go too fast.

That's Daddy and Drew inside that garlic.  This is yet another ride that spins in circles... something Mommy's tummy cannot handle, so Daddy braved these rides with Drew.  I think this was the biggest thrill ride for Drew - it did go pretty darned fast!  Dave had to hold Drew with one hand, while trying to spin the garlic with the other... it went that fast.

The longest wait we had was about an hour for the paddle boats, but Drew was adamant he wanted to go on them. Daddy who had done all the spinning rides wanted a break and didn't want to "work" at entertainment (aka bike/paddle) so Mommy joined Drew for this ride - braving the hot sun.

Funny thing is that once we got our life jackets on, and got into our swan, Drew was no longer excited about this ride.  So we waited an hour in the hot hot sun only to get a grouchy almost 4-year-old who did nothing but complain while I was working hard to get us around the pond.

Toward the end of the day we circled around the park and hit up the remaining rides we missed in our first go-round.  Include the strawberry ride - yet another spinny one.

One of the cool things about this park is not only the rides - which entice the kids - but the gardens as well.  In these gardens there are some very unique trees.  This one is a circus tree.

It's just kind of fun to see the various plant life - although we didn't get a chance to enjoy it a whole lot.  A certain child wanted to hit more rides.

It was a fantastic family day for the three of us.  It's these quality moments and trips that make me appreciate everything I have.  And this was a great start to the birthday celebrations!