Kings Island!!

On Tuesday, we packed up and headed to Kings Island for some fun, fun, fun! It was so hot out, but lucky for us, it stayed cloudy almost all day. Man, am I getting old! A few years ago, I never would have given a second thought to the heat and whether or not I would be sweating all day. haha! Now, the weather is just about the first thing we check- we want to know if it's going to be torture standing around all day, because that is pretty much what we get to do at amusement parks now that we have kids- stand around! But... they have a total blast and, in turn, so do we. I absolutely treasure seeing their little faces lit up with pure joy. And we all know it's all about them, right?
Me and my girls, ready to start our day!

Lexi was excited to pose for a picture with Lucy. Ella, who has no idea who any of the Peanuts characters are, just kept asking, "Where's Dora?" Poor thing didn't want to believe that Dora wasn't there anymore.

Cade was actually able to ride quite a few more rides than we thought. He loves anything to do with cars, so, of course, he loved driving with Big Sis...

Cade waited patiently with Pappaw while the rest of us rode Woodstock Express (aka Beastie). Ella was too short for it last year, but it ended up being her favorite ride of the day- she rode it three times!

How'd you like the roller coaster, E? This cracks me up- check out Ella's perfect gymnastics hands! Her coach would be proud!

Not sure what these are called now- we still call them the Swiper cars. Cade wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry at first, but once he saw Ella having so much fun, he started squealing, too.

And this was too precious! Ella kept putting her arm around Cade, trying to let him know he didn't need to be scared...

Time for a nap!

And the baby coaster! There was absolutely no line, so they got to ride it a few times in a row. We thought it was funny that they had to have the back seat. haha! And look at those arms in the air (with perfect gymnastics hands)! You can already tell they're both going to be coaster nuts!

Ella showing her strength...

She won a little puppy that she immediately named "Arfie". Way to go, Ella! =)

Having so much fun with Daddy...

Taking a ride on the carousel...

Ella wanted Grammy to stand by her...

The scrambler!

Cade couldn't help but dance while watching a singing show. He's too adorable!

Taking a break for a quick lunch...

Then back for more fun. Riding the little trains...

And the big train...

This is pretty much where the pictures ended. We tried to ride a lot of "big people" rides for Lexi's sake, while Mom and Dad looked after the kiddos. This is also where she talked us into the log flume and we ended up totally soaked! I was glad we saved it for the end of the day!

A little snippet of Snoopy's Light Spectacular...

You know we had to splurge for some light-up toys!

And I always love seeing the tower all lit up...

It was a great day and we rocked the park till close! Lexi and Ella still pouted a little as we left, saying, "But why do we have to leave? We didn't get to ride ___!" There's always next time, girls!!