Adventureland! '12: Land of the "Grimace" Smile Edition

(Please note that Charlotte understands what the camera is, and she knows she is supposed to smile when I ask her to, but she doesn't know how to make that smile.)

We were on the fence about taking Charlotte to Adventureland today; the heat index was supposed to be so high, but knowing we'd spend most of our time in the water park tipped the scales.

We started the day with some amusement park rides. She first took a purple motorcycle for a spin over at the Hampton Cars, but was quite unsure about the bike and her neighbor:

By the end she had warmed up to the ride, and she took the orange motorcycle for a cruise (notice grimace-smile #1):

Then we took the A.T.V. for a cruise (G.S. #2):

After that we headed over to the "Infant Ocean" for some boating action (G.S. #3):

Finally it was time to put on a "swimmy suit", and we hit the splash pad at the "Heron Harbor" (G.S. #4):

Charlotte made a five-second-friend:

Pro Tip: The surface that surrounds some of the water attractions around Kokomo Kove is really slippery. I'd recommend wearing sandals or some type of Aqua Socks. Char fell at least four times until we put on her "pool shoes".

We also hit the wave pool, slid down the green slide, and even sat on the stools in front of the swim-
up bar. As Char placed both of her hands on the bar I jokingly muttered, "Two please, and make mine a double." Char overheard me and looked right at the bartender and repeated, "Two please, and make mine bubble."

Around 2:00 pm, after sharing one hot dog, two applications of sun screen, and three chicken strips we decided to call it a day. On the way back to the car we stopped into the "Air Conditioned!" bingo parlor to cool off. We'd only been in the stroller for 15 minutes, but it was that hot.

Mom and Char played one game of bingo to kill some time, and they had some beginner's luck:

So, what does a single bingo win net you at Adventureland? 600 points. That doesn't get you much in the bingo parlor, but in the arcade (where points are also redeemable) it amounts to some serious schwag:

The regulation-sized Spongebob Squarepants basketball was 400 pts, the purple penguin was 125 pts, and the rest was odd change. Not bad for a dollar!

Char fell asleep with both bracelets on and Purple Penguin between her legs before we made it out of the parking lot. Daph and I gave each other a silent high-five, and we drove home as slowly and quietly as we could. Char missed her nap time, and we needed every second we could get.

I loved Adventureland as a kid, and getting to share the place with my daughter is even better.