Great America

So Steve has been working for the last little bit with a team at work on a product called Chromecast.  It released last Wednesday and as a thank-you for the work everyone did, Google sent us to Great America.  They gave us admission tickets and a parking voucher.  Yay!  We had a family outing all set for us.

We spent the morning at home.  Steve had a little work to get done and we wanted to let Matthew get in a good morning nap.  So, we headed out around 12 and got there around 1.

Anna was in heaven.  We headed first to the double-decker carousel.  She was a little nervous about going up on the top floor so we stayed on the bottom.  She wanted to ride the giraffe, so we rode the giraffe.  She's gotten so independent and didn't want any help.

Later we went up the Star Tower and got a good look at the entire park.  We then took the Delta Flyer across the park to the other end.  We ended the time before lunch with Anna's very first roller coaster ride.  Granted, it was the kiddie roller coaster, but she did it and she LOVED it.  In fact, she went on it twice.

In addition to the tickets, Google provided lunch.  We had hot dogs, BBQ ribs, chips, green salad, potato salad, and roll.  We also had popsicles and soda.  Anna was more interested in the little mushroom house nearby.  I've been telling her some stories about a gnome that lives in a mushroom and she was beside herself to see a gnome home.

After lunch, we headed back to the park.  We stayed mostly in Kidzville and Snoopy Land.  They had rides more appropriate for Anna.  We rode a couple with her, the Great Pumpkin Ride and Sally's Love Bugs, then Anna went solo.  There were a bunch of rides that only let kids on.  After a little confusion about what she was supposed to do, Anna went for it.  She even buckled herself in.

We finally left around 6pm.  Steve and I were exhausted, Matthew was cranky, and Anna was ready to go for round 2.  She had so much fun.