Wonderful Wonderland

Yesterday Matthew, my niece Kyla, my brother-in-law Steve and I went to Canada's Wonderland.
There was much excitement around this event. Kyla and I had planned it for weeks (down to what treats we were each bringing) and I had explained to Matt what it was all about. Steve and I even had a couple of phone conversations about it.
So we met at our pre-arranged rendezvous point and off we went.
Now it may seem a little stange that it was me and Steve going. The reason behind it is that this year they are offering up by one day's passes get another day's free for the rest of the season. Becky and Steve went once with their kids and then asked if we wanted to go the second time and bring Kyla since she and I have always talked about going (seriously, she is almost 4 and we have been discussing this for about 2 years).
Mike wasn't too keen on the idea of going with 2 kids, so we determined that giving him the day off would be a great Father's Day gift and Steve wanted to go.
Anyway ... Back to the day

I have to say we had a pretty Wonderful time. I was a little tentative about bringing my 2 year old who doesn't stand still. But, with his cousin keeping him in check it went fine. The line ups weren't bad, and he loved that he got to go on all the rides with Uncle Steve while I went with Kyla.
I loved that I got to go on so many rides. Okay - so they weren't exactly scary roller coasters like I prefer, but what's not to enjoy about the mini rollercoaster that you ride with your kid complete with the camera where you can buy expensive photos. (we didn't because the pic wasn't flattering, but I will definitely plan ahead next time).
We also went to to the Dora show which was pretty darn cute. I started to sing and dance right along with dora and boots. I couldn't help myself. It was that good. And the fun thing about that show was that no one cared that I was singing and dancing along with dora and boots.
Side note for anyone who read the post about the Dora clothes - it is TOTALLY cool to wear Dora clothes at any age at Wonderland. In fact, you could buy a Dora shirt to wear to Wonderland.
Anyway, I was also really impressed with the staff in the kids area. They were so much fun. They were patient with the kids getting in and out of the rides and also totally fine about the parents being a bit anxious when their kids were going on an unchaperoned ride for the first time.
Probably the funniest moment of the day was when we were waiting to go on the airplane ride. We were in line forever (like about 30 minutes). It was hot, there was no shade and the kid behind us was having a complete meltdown. Matt and Kyla were both cracking and we just wanted to get on the ride. We were right at the front of the line behind one other family. WE WERE NEXT! Then it happened. First there was some delay starting the ride. Then one little kid freaked out completely so they stopped the ride to pull him out. Then it restarted and then stopped again because one of the parents hadn't left the ride area. Finally, it starts AGAIN. In order to make all the kids who'd been sitting on the ride happy, the guy decided to play Simon Says with them.
Okay, so that was funny.
"Simon says wave at your parents."
"Simon says raise your hands in the air", etc. etc.
Funny, except that he was making the ride longer to compensate and also longer because he was enjoying Simon Says.
Finally he does this long drawn out "Simon Says ...." and as he was waiting to fill in the blank the woman next to me yells
"MAKE IT STOP!"
Honestly, the funniest moment of the day. I couldn't stop giggling. I'm still laughing about it - it was that funny. But, funny in the way that you can't really repeat the moment. But, you will always laugh about it because it was funny.
The rest of the day was fun too. There was some spilled pop, a few tears and a couple meltdowns, but nothing major.
I think for me the highlight of the day was watching the cousins interract. They would often be waiting in line and just spontaneously hug. That was pretty cool. Or, they would go on a kiddie ride and sit there laughing about a joke that only they shared. I would watch them swiging through the air and laughing - and then Kyla would show Matt to wave at us, and then they would laugh together. Very cute.
I am thinking about going again. In fact, part of me wanted to run up to the desk and buy a season's pass. But, then I realized that part of what made the day special was that we don't do it a lot. That we can't just hop in our car and go up there. It's a treat and it's a big deal.
Pictures to come :)