The last hurrah

Late August, or the last Friday the Heuer's were around to spend with the Kellogg's, we did something special. Kristen and I took the 6 kids to Nickelodeon world at the Mall of America for our last hurrah. I had wanted to do something special with my two to celebrate my last Friday with Emma and my children always have more fun when their cousins are around.

So... at approximately 9:30 after a special breakfast of pancakes and bacon, we were off to the Mall and the kids were beyond excited. I was able to buy advanced unlimited ride wristbands for a discount at work, so we had all day to run and ride.

The first ride we went on was the flume or the log water ride thing. Kyra, Emma, Evan, and I decided to go and Kristen stayed back with an uncertain Kaylee and the babies. The park was not busy so the wait was not long. We got settled and all of a sudden, Emma was not so certain that she wanted to ride. She started to whimper a bit in the front with Kyra as I was in the back of the "log" with Evan. I had my arms around both kids as she voiced her concerns multiple times at the uncertainty of the ride. Finally, we made our way to the big drop and finally - a big smile and a " YAHHH!!! MOM! That was fun! I am glad I did that!" Evan and Kyra also had a blast.

From that point on, it was non-stop. "Let's go here. Let's try that one" "That was fun. I liked that" and on.. and on.. and on.

The girls were able to go on some of the bigger rides and did great. Kyra was a big help to the little ones with either buckling them in or calming their nerves. Evan did good and had a blast on the little rides and usually waited patiently on the rides he was too little to go on. He did attempt the "But Mama, I a big boy!" a few times, but Kristen and I were usually able to divert him to another ride or by entertaining the babies.

I think the biggest hit was the flume. We hit that ride the most by far. Plus, it was nice, that all the kids could ride at once. Lunch time was spent at McDonald's, which was also nice and convenient. The kids wolfed down their 6 McNugget meal, while the babies munched on applesauce and Kristen and I ate Italian food. We did a little shopping and stopped by the Disney Store and then went back to Nickelodeon World. I was really hoping that Evan would take a short nap as I could tell he was getting tired and while I rented a stroller to help the cause, in the end it didn't work. He was a champ however and kept up with the bigger kids well.

Here are some fun pics of our trip.

Kyra and Emma enjoying the Wonder Pet ride.

Evan was on it as well... just the other side. This was a drop ride where they rose up maybe a story or two high and then dropped... then bounced... and bounced... and bounced. The kids liked it so much, they hit this one twice in a row.

Charley and Kate did awesome! They sat in their stroller so well and enjoyed all the views and the attention from their sisters and cousins.

My kiddo's had to meet Dora and Diego! Both were pretty excited when they saw them and it made me think back to three years ago (almost to the day) when Emma had met Dora for the first time.

Big smiles from Emma when she got the big hug from Dora:

And my little man with Diego.

Emma and Kaylee got to ride on the kiddie bumper cars. They were the only two as Kyra was too big and Evan was too small. This was the one ride that Evan put up a bit bigger fuss that he couldn't ride. He really thought he was big enough for this one.

At first, Emma and Kaylee were a bit unsure how to make them go, but with a little coaxing and teaching from the adults, they were off driving and laughing in no time.

My kiddo's with Spongebob and some starfish.

And huge smiles from Evan when he got to drive a big rig.

In the end, it was a fantastic day. Overall, the day was fairly inexpensive with the unlimited ride tickets and the kids had SO MUCH FUN. They all got along very well, listened to each other and the adults, were patient, and overall did great. I would definitely do this again.