Valleyfair!

Austin has been really into dinosaurs lately!  He can pronounce all their names and tells me which dinosaurs are in the Jurassic, Triassic, and Cretaceous period, where they were discovered, how big they are, whether they are herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores, etc.  It is really quite remarkable how much he knows about dinosaurs!  He has learned some from the PBS Kids show "Dinosaur Train," but most of it he has learned from a book on Dinosaurs he got for his birthday a year or so ago.  What a smart kid!  

Since Austin is so into dinosaurs, Sarah has been picking up a lot of info about them too.  They play "Dinosaur Train" together and Sarah can identify quite a few dinosaurs as well.  Due to this prominent new interest, we thought the kids may enjoy going to an animatronic dinosaur display.   There was one at the MN Zoo this summer, but it ended on Labor Day.  There is also a big dinosaur display at an amusement park really close to us right here in Shakopee.  We decided to make a day of it and take the big kids to Valleyfair!  This was the first time they've been there and the first time I've been there in about 15 years or so.  Nanny stayed with Trevor so he could play at home and have his afternoon nap while we had fun at the park.

Before we even got in the entry gate, there was a "sub-adult" T Rex to see! The kids were very excited.

Then into the park...we found a yangchuanosaurus (who was apparently already being prepped for the Halloween season - "Valley Scare" - he had a little skeleton in his mouth.

Austin was excited to navigate with the park map.

Then onto the dinosaur trail...

One of the first dinosaurs actually within the dino part of the park - a Spinosaurus.  I was surprised when we were a good 50 feet away from this one and Sarah piped up with, "Look, a Spinosaurus!" She was right! Apparently, she can identify dinosaur species like her big brother!

 For some reason, Sarah spent the first 5 minutes or so in the dino park with her fingers in her ears.  Then she eventually forgot about it, and was fine. 

 Friendly reminders to follow the rules and stay on the path.

 Good thing it can't really eat us!

 One of Austin's favorites - the Allosaurus.

 The Stegosaurus.

One of the long neck dinosaurs.  The neck was so long, I couldn't get the head of the dinosaur in this photo with Daddy and the kids.

 The Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Triceratops.

Sarah's favorite dino is the Triceratops (tri-Sarah-tops) - she calls it her dinosaur.

Here is a video of Austin the other day telling me all about dinosaurs.  He has his dino book with him that was a gift from the Fichtel's a couple birthdays ago.  Some of the info he is reading out of the book while he talks to me, but a lot of what he is telling me on this video is not right in front of him - he just recalls a vast amount of information about these dinosaurs!


Anyway, when we were done with the dinos, we headed to the kids' part of the park to try out some rides.  Austin was all for it!  Sarah would go in line with Austin to go on one of the little kid rides, but then would scamper back out of line and hide behind my leg.  She did this a couple times and we were worried that she wouldn't try out any of the rides and wouldn't have any fun just waiting for Austin to ride all the rides.  We went all together on the little mini-monorail that goes around the kid part of the park and, though she resisted going on, she really enjoyed it and it broke the ice.  After that, she was excited to go on some rides as long as we were all 4 going on it together.  After a few more rides with all 4 of us, she was finally willing to on rides without Mommy and Daddy.  She had a blast!

Here is Austin on his own on the first ride.  He thought it was great!

The 2nd ride Sarah bailed out on.  Austin thought it was fun!

The kids loved the ferris wheel and marveled at everything they could see from that height.

We had a break for some treats - cotton candy (which the kids actually didn't end up liking) and a funnel cake we all shared.  Then it was off to some more rides...

Austin and Sarah probably had the most fun and giggles on the race car ride.  They were ALL smiles and squeals!

Sarah went on the ride she opted out of at first - and had a blast!

It started to sprinkle a little bit, but we tried a few more rides.  The submarine...

Austin also went on the Corkscrew with Mommy after the Ferris Wheel while Daddy and Sarah tried out the spinning air balloon ride (which is surprisingly nausea inducing!).  The Corkscrew is a big rollercoaster that goes upside down and then upside down twice more in a corkscrew motion.  Austin is just barely tall enough to ride it and he wanted to try it.  I think he was a little freaked out during the ride, but had fun overall and said he wanted to do it again!  Right before we headed out of the park (while it was starting to rain more), Austin went on the Wild Thing roller coaster with Daddy.  Again, I think he had fun, but was a bit freaked out by the big steep drop right at the beginning (feels like a free fall!).  What a brave boy!

As we were heading out of the park (in the rain), we stopped for a ride on the carousel.  Sarah loved it and we rode it twice before heading home.

We headed home wet and tired, but had a great time!  The kids were thoroughly exhausted after having football and dance lessons in the AM, Valleyfair all afternoon, then the ND vs. Purdue football game in the evening.  Sarah headed to bed early and Austin enthusiastically cheered the Irish on to victory!