While We Were Waiting

Saturday we went to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. While McKay & I were waiting for Jordan to come back with our dinner, we took some pictures.

It was fun having McKay help me think of different body parts we could take pictures of. And of course he loved looking at the pictures after we took them.

I couldn't pick a favorite picture of his eyes. It was a great way to pass the time & both of us were entertained!

We took McKay on tons of rides. We were suspicious before but this trip confirmed it. He loves a 'thrill'. Jordan took him on a Roadrunner roller coaster in Looney Toons Town and McKay loved it! As I waited for them to get their turn to ride I listened to parents and kids getting off. The parents didn't like it and most of the kids were too scared to go on another ride. The ride went around 2 times and after the first time around most of the kids got off because it was too intense. We were surprised they let such little kids go on the ride, even with an adult. Jordan didn't like the ride. McKay wanted to go again. Oh Boy!

The park was all decorated for Halloween. Normally this is such a pretty fountain.

This was our first day trip with McKay in underwear... and he did great! I hope all our kids are this easy to train! He wasn't ready in August so about 6 weeks later, conference weekend, we started again. This time he was ready.

The forecast for the day said 72 and cloudy but the clouds didn't roll in until around 5:30 and it was closer to 80 than 70 - perfect day! We stayed late enough to see Shouka (killer whale) and the dolphin show. I think we go to the dolphin show every time and all of us enjoy it each time. This time was disco themed due to Halloween and McKay wasn't too sure about the disco ball when the lights were off. It was a great way to end a fun day.

Discovery Kingdom

Saturday was another Six Flags Discovery Kingdom day. We went to three shows: Shouka, the Dolphins, and the Bengal Tigers. Jordan hadn't seen the tiger show yet so we really wanted to see it. We really like that they change the shows quite often. For example, this time they had Merlin the Dolphin with Shouka. The downside, is that Jordan didn't actually get to see Ordin, the fully grown male white Bengal tiger who will swim completely underwater. The other tigers were good... just not as good as Ordin.

We had the best seats this time; we were in the shade, we were not in the splash zone, and we could see everything. McKay loved it when Shouka and Merlin swam out and did a flip together. I definitely enjoyed Shouka more this time than any other. I think McKay did too.

McKay was SO excited to see the dolphin. When Jordan walked up to him, McKay reached out and softly 'pet' him and blew kisses. Another time, he saw an advertisement about Ordin and he pointed to the white tiger - he made the connection that they were supposed to be the same thing. He just HAD to touch Sylvester's bright red nose.

We stopped and let McKay play at a few places we haven't stopped before. One was in jungle land where there is a HUGE jungle gym with 'nets' and bridges, steps, slides etc. McKay had a blast climbing the steps and going down one slide over and over. He rarely goes down more than one slide per visit, even when the slides are right next to each other... :) It was even a tunnel slide which usually scares him. He did it this time though and loved it when he could see me waiting for him at the bottom. Another place we stopped was in Looney Toons land at the Bugs Bunny playground. McKay enjoyed 'counting' the carrots in the sand.

Jordan and I took turns going on Medusa right when we got to the park, before McKay was too tired and didn't want to wait. It was a fun ride! It was actually pretty funny how many people asked me if McKay was going to go on the ride. He sure wanted to! We took him on several rides, including his all time favorite we never miss. Even Chantelle liked that ride! McKay enjoyed 'hopping' around after he got off of the hopping frog ride.

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

With my season pass to six flags, I was able to get Chantelle in for free. We got there just after they opened and made sure we did all the 'musts'.

McKay doesn't even know who any of these characters are (I don't think anyway), but he still thinks they are cool and wants to give them 'five' or at least get a wave from them. He seems to like Daffy Duck the best - no picture this time. :)

We decided the shows she needed to see were the dolphin, the killer whale (Shouka), and the elephant. We've been to the dolphin show every time we've gone to the park, and it has been different each time. This time one of the trainers was in the water with them. It was great. When we went to see Shouka, we knew where to sit and enjoyed the show much more than the first time we went. Tava, the elephant, was still a favorite and McKay wanted 'more more more' when the show was over.

They finally finished the 'Ordin's Temple of the Tiger' exhibit so we went to that as well. Ordin is a white Bengal tiger who will swim in water, unlike most tigers. We learned a lot about tigers but it doesn't make the 'must-see-more-than-once' list.

I think McKay enjoyed watching the Boomerang ride more than Chantelle liked riding it. Maybe. 'wooooooooooh'. She went on the all the big rides plus a few of the smaller big rides.

This ride was almost too exciting for Chantelle. heehee. Just kidding. McKay enjoyed 'driving' on his Safari around the turtles.

Of course, we HAVE to go on this ride... every time!

McKay really liked riding the elephant & the bear on the carousel. I am amazed at how many rides there are and that there are STILL areas of the park we haven't even been to yet.

McKay relaxed while Chantelle did her shopping for her batman paraphernalia.

First kiss. wooohoo! Oops, he's plastic. Oh well. Joker wasn't though. Chantelle is a HUGE fan of Batman.

He really can push the stroller using the handle (we were going downhill in this picture) but it is much faster when he uses the basket on the bottom. Mr. Independent!

There was no line to ride Thomas (that is usually one of the longest lines) so we finished our day with a train ride. We had a great day at the Discovery Kingdom!

Memorial Day Weekend

This is a view of the bay bridge, with San Francisco on the right, taken from Treasure Island. No, we were not planning on going to Treasure Island; we were headed to the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. Mapquest said we had 6 miles to our next freeway change when we really only had 2 miles. So we missed it. Luckily, the lady we got in the toll booth was kind enough to not make us pay and told us how to turn around (and NOT cross to San Francisco) and get back to where we needed to be. At least this time we went to a place we will return to intentionally another time. We've never been there before and it was really pretty! Of course when we do go to Treasure Island, we will go to San Francisco and cross the bay bridge to avoid the toll. :)

McKay was pretty excited to see a huge duck and was quack quack quacking happily!

(click on the collage)
We went to the dolphin show again since it was our favorite last time and then saw some other shows and animals we didn't see the first time we were there. We learned a lot about Walrus' and really enjoyed the Birds in Flight show. Even McKay recognized it when one of the parrots (I am sure there is a more technical name for it) whistled the theme song for the Andy Griffith show. It was fun to show McKay real giraffes since we have been working on recognizing them by their long necks.

The butterfly habitat was another favorite. There were so many unique and beautiful butterflies. It was tricky getting a good picture because they wouldn't hold still.

In the butterfly habitat there were some Kio. They have huge mouths and are a type of sucking fish. It was funny to watch McKay imitate their mouths! He really liked the fish.

I have a feeling we will be returning to the frog ride! It was so fun to hear him do his frog sound as we 'hopped' around.

Last time we just rode Harold at Thomas Town so this time we actually waited in line to ride Thomas. We heard a lot of choo chooing. McKay enjoyed waving at the people we passed.

We also rode Bertie the Bus. I have about 5 pictures of McKay with the same expression as in the top left picture. He always wants to ride more more more when each ride ends. We actually got the front of the bus - woohoo!

Yes, this is the same ride we took McKay on last time for his first ride ever. He loves it!

I am not sure how to clip video when I take it on my regular camera. I was trying to get McKay to look at me. He was enjoying the ride so much! Watch it... it is only 30 seconds and the end is worth it! Notice he was not prompted at all. :)

On Monday we went to the scout fundraiser breakfast and did some shopping. While McKay was napping, Jordan and I finished planting our 'garden'. We thought we would be done with potted gardening when Jordan graduated from BYU and we moved. Oh well.

Jordan planted the two tomatoes, peppers ,and squash a month or so ago and there are blossoms all over them. We have about 6 inches of dirt between the concrete and the fence so we thought we'd try the squash there. So far it is thriving! In the afternoon (when we were working back there!) it gets really hot and the plants are loving it. We planted another tomato plant, 3 bush green bean plants and an Italian Roasted Pepper. We also planted two pots of flowers that are hanging in front of my kitchen window.

The rest of the day we took it easy and enjoyed being together. It was a great weekend!

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

In Vallejo CA there is a Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. It is about an hour to an hour and a half drive from our home in Santa Clara. And we have season passes! Last Saturday we decided to make Six Flags a part of our summer fun and headed out for our first visit. Next time we will take a different, more direct route and it will only take an hour and fifteen minutes to get there. Unfortunately there is no way around the toll bridge which is $4 per car. Good thing we are getting a good deal on the passes & parking! This park is really unique; it has all the animal shows similar to Sea World, lots of the big roller coasters common to Six Flags, over 20 rides with NO height requirement (lots of options for McKay), and lots of animals that you can just go look at like at a zoo or aquarium.

Anyway, we got into the park and happened upon the dolphin show which was just getting started. I was parking the stroller, but Jordan said right when he and McKay walked in and McKay saw the dolphins doing their flips, our not-fun-at-all drive up became totally worth it. In fact, I think part of the reason we enjoyed the park so much was because of our sweet little McKay.

One of our favorite shows of the day was the dolphin show. In fact, we even considered going back again for the next show. That is until we remembered we can come back anytime this year and that there is a lot more to see!

21 months

McKay wasn't ready to leave the dolphins yet so we went down to watch them a little closer. He liked to watch the dolphins play with their ball and would wave to them every time they swam away.

When McKay first saw this ride, he was excited and wanted to go on it so badly. He did pretty well waiting for our turn, even when we didn't get on when I thought we would - we were the first in line for the next ride.

He wasn't too sure about the ride at first. Jordan got a kick out of his expression, which reminded him of a picture of him at about McKay's age with the same expression at Disneyland. It only took a couple of spins and McKay was laughing and having a good time.

They have a Thomas Town which has this Harold the Helicopter ride, a Bertie the Bus ride and a Thomas Train ride that goes around the park. It was the Saturday at the end of spring break and apparently the park had not anticipated the crowd because we didn't have a map of the park. We were lucky enough to get a xeroxed copy of the show schedule so we just stopped here and there on our way to the shows. Next time we will go for a train ride!

Click on the collage to see the pictures closer. Obviously I had a hard time narrowing down which pictures I wanted to post. :) The elephant show was also a favorite. I have never seen an elephant in real life be so cool! McKay likes elephants a lot more after the show. It was funny to watch the elephant keep asking for more treats while the trainer sat on her side and taught us about elephants. I think he had everyone's attention when he laid down and had the elephant step over him. Especially after explaining that the elephant couldn't see her feet or him! Another favorite part was when the elephant wiggled her ears. (Wiggled seems too mild of a word to describe it... maybe waved would be better.)

After the show was over, we went to the edge of the ring and pet the elephant. Now McKay can say he has touched an elephants tusks.

Shade was limited there so next time we will make sure we are early enough to not be sitting in the sun.

Our favorite part of the sea lion show was when McKay barked/growled like the sea lions.

By the end of the day, we were all pretty tired, especially with no nap for McKay. While we waited for the killer whale show, McKay made friends with the lady sitting in front of us. He gave her 'five', 'knuckles', 'skin' and even did a little dance with her. He was very comfortable and made her wish she had a boy (she had 2 older girls). McKay makes friends wherever we go.

Next time we will sit in seats with a better view and make sure it isn't the last show of the day and I think we will enjoy the killer whale more. It still was good though.

On our way out we saw a huge walrus who was very interactive with the group of us who were watching him. He was clapping his flippers, which McKay loved.

Our first day was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed how much the animals liked us. It was so much better than a zoo where you can't get the animals to do anything. It's gonna be a fun year!