Friday, July 12, 2019

Got anxiety? Avoid Valleyfair. And take double up on meds. Oh, and I hit rock bottom.

I've kind of gone on this weird, super-mom/let's make memories/YOLO kick, and I kind of think Matt is fully over it and the kids are kind of have a love/hate with it. Olivia is all about it, Jackson would rather be napping or playing BitLife on his phone, Penelope can't be bothered, and Lucy is game for anything. 

And then there is Matt who is always mildly annoyed and completely done before we even get there. 

Overall it is always a fun family outing. *sarcasm*

In June though I was just on the Valleyfair website checking out prices and I saw that they had a sale for $29.99 a ticket through the end of June (which I see is still available on Sundays so I am disappointed I didn't get some awesome deal) and when you are buying six tickets you'll take any kind of discount. I decided we were going to go, we'd go on a Sunday so it was free parking, and it would be SO MUCH FAMILY FUN. 

It turns out I could have gone to Disney World, had way more fun and did more stuff, than it cost to do Valleyfair. Also, Matt got us lost and we got there later than I had planned and it was all very stressful. 
When we eventually got there we got through quickly because I pre-paid for our tickets, parking wasn't bad at all, and we took the kid photo. Ideally, everyone would have beaming, happy faces as they embark on an amusement park. You'll see we missed that mark. 

The plan was to go to the Family Care Center and get everyone measured and get their wristbands so they didn't have to do that at every ride, that actually turned out to be really handy and I highly suggest you do that especially if you have more than one kid. 

We saw some rain clouds, and I knew the forecast was iffy on our drive down but the tickets weren't refundable or transferable, which is kind of a crappy policy, but it is what it is. The big kids take off, we make plans for check ins so I could keep tabs, and Matt and I would hang with the littles.  
First stop was the carousel and they've been on one and call it "riding the ponies" so we knew we'd be doing this a few times during the day.  
It was Penelope's favorite thing and if she was allowed to sit there all day she absolutely would have. 

It started to sprinkle and we were going to tough it out. We got on some little train thing and as soon as we started rolling, the rain started to pour. I'm not talking, "Oh hey- better get an umbrella!", but a "Holy shit, get to a building!" kind of rain. By the time we get off the train, we're soaked. We take the littles and run to this indoor play area. I read on a family travel blog that this is a cool play area to "take a break from the sun" and it was a "huge play ball area". Obviously other read about this too because this place was packed. It also was not huge at all. It was very small, very crowded, very loud, balls shooting and flying everywhere, it was so muggy and hot in there, and then you have parents screaming at their children from one end to the other. 

Come on, you have to know THEY CANNOT HEAR YOU, walk the hell over there already. 

There was no other place to go except for maybe a bathroom, but I wasn't about to sit in there for gods knows how long. I had some anxiety putty in my purse and I kneaded the hell out of it, did breathing exercises and decided when it was a light sprinkle we were going. I didn't even care. 

By then, everyone was hungry. 

Guess what Valleyfair doesn't have? Indoor restaurants! 

Every food option means you're eating outside and if you're lucky you can grab a table with an umbrella or under this small area with a roof. I didn't see any others, but we found one and sat there. It smelled like rotting garbage but it was (relatively) dry.  
We get pizza and souvenir cups because you get free refills that day and thank god because we must have filled them up 15 times. Easily. Matt wasn't happy with how much it cost and I get it, but I'm a go-with-the-flow person and he isn't. He gets annoyed or angry and he stays that way. For the rest of the time. 

After lunch we decided to go to Soak City and swim. I purchased a cabana online because when I looked at weather two days before the city was under an "extreme heat advisory" and I knew I would never make it in blazing sun and heat for long and I was willing to pay for shade. 

Pay, I did. 

It says "starting at $69" for a cabana online. I didn't find any cabana anywhere for less than $150. Not one. So that's what we paid. 

Gulp. 

I will say that the cabana would be an AMAZING idea if you were going to be there for a long time and had a few people. It comes with a fridge, two chaise lounges, SHADE, a fan, a TV, they bring you water and chips (even though it said popcorn and they brought me generic grocery store chips... lame) and there is a little patio table and chairs for you. It is 100% worth it because sometimes you need shade, or a kid gets pooped out and wants to lay down, this was a cool thing. You can also pick where your cabana is and we picked near the kid play area which was smart because Penelope and Lucy never left that area.  
It wasn't even that warm out, maybe high 70s, so the water was absolutely freezing. I had my suit on but never went in any water and took my suit off as soon as I could.  
Olivia and Jackson took off for water slides and I hung out here with Penelope and Lucy. Matt was wandering around mostly so I'm not sure what he was doing.  
Lucy absolutely loved having water sprinkled on her.  
So did Penelope but she liked spraying other people more, which came as no surprise. 

We didn't end up being in the water area for very long because we were hoping to go on more rides since we couldn't earlier because of the rain. So we got dressed and started walking.  
 If only. 
 We soon discovered there wasn't much for Lucy to ride on so we decided to lie and tell Penelope there weren't any other rides for her because Lucy would have had a fit if she couldn't go on something. Not the hill I was dying on that day. 
 I was really surprised they went on this train because this went on a track and they couldn't see us while on the train and I thought for sure Lucy would freak out, but they did really well. Definitely didn't want to do it again, but they also didn't try to climb out. 
 Penelope spotted the ferris wheel and she had been on a smaller one before when we went to the Wisconsin Dells and stayed at Kalahari, but Lucy was just a baby so she had no idea what was going on. As it turns out she was all about safety and wanted the lady to MAKE SURE her buckle was secure. 

Oh, and you know when people go on a "weight loss journey" and they have that one photo they use as their "before" picture as inspiration to get on the treadmill? 

I officially have mine, guys! 
I always say I have reverse of body dysmorphia because when I look in the mirror, I swear that isn't what I see. Overweight? Sure. I know this and I know I have weird fat pockets and it's 100% from my corticosteroids and it's completely not from my diet. I'm exercising every day and still. Still no progress and I look like this. Needless to say I am completely dreading our trip to Missouri in a few weeks and being in photos. I'll still be in a few but I hate this. 

To say this photo has had an impact on me is an understatement. 

Anyways. The day was long, the day was hot and rainy, the day wasn't at all what I had hoped it would be. Everyone was in a bad mood when we left and the big kids were upset that Matt was grumpy the entire time and basically ruined it for them. It was just really stressful. I'm glad we went because it was a fun day out of the house and we crossed something off our summer bucket list, I just wish it was a more fun day. 

BUT! 

The good news is that I was only a little sick the next two days instead of throwing up and feeling like death was really here for me. Super happy I remembered to bring my hat, I drank and obscene amount of water, I stayed in shade as much as I could and I used almost an entire bottle of sunscreen on myself. It also was a good trial run traveling with Penelope and Lucy at this age. They handled no naps fairly well until dinner time so I was hopefully the things we have planned for Missouri might actually happen. Crossing fingers. 

6 comments:

https://thegoodthingscomin.blog/ said...

Your kids are so cute and happy and I love how open you talk about your anxiety! I think I should get me some anxiety putty...great idea!

https://thegoodthingscomin.blog/2019/07/11/summer-style-board-via-my-poshmark-wardrobe/

Emily said...

I've been on a let's make memories kick as well. Valleyfair sounds like a fun place. I hope everything goes well on your trip to Missouri.

Beth (Coffee Until Cocktails) said...

Oh man, Valleyfair is one area I avoid like the plague in the summer. Then again my kiddo is terrified of rides, so it wouldn't make too much sense for us. It looks like your kids had a ton of fun though! Where in Missouri will you be going? We have relatives in St. Louis, it's a fun area to travel.

Kim {Hope Whispers} said...

This kinda sounds one of our Days at Disney last summer. We had forgotten how hot FL is and figured since we were coming from Texas we could totally handle it. Everyone was miserable and I was like Snow White all happy and shit! They were so annoyed with me. Memories were made alright. And you know, the boys only remember the good parts so Im sure your kids will too. Hope your weekend is filled with even more memories. More happy than frustrated ones! XOXO

Shooting Stars Mag said...

That cabana sounds awesome, but I'm sorry you couldn't really use it/enjoy it for too long. And yeah, getting stuck in a downpour is not exciting. It sounds like there were some fun moments though, and hey, memories, right? LOL

-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net

Julie H said...

Sounds like Matt was a bit of a party pooper. I hate when the grown ups are like that lol. Amusement parks are a waste for me now since I get sick on the rides. Sucks.