March 28, 2024

Oh the adventures

I’m not sure there is ever a perfect day to go to Adventureland. I think no matter what, you are either going to deal with people, weather, cranky kids or a bit of all three.

Saturday we took the leap and headed to the closest thing we have to Disney World in Iowa. I didn’t tell my girls about our plans until the day before because they still don’t have a great grasp on time when it pertains to days and I didn’t want to be asked a thousand times when we were going.

Since, as a family, we are night owls, after we got up and around in the morning, we headed to Altoona at about 10:30 a.m. I was hoping to have the girls eat beforehand so we could avoid the high priced food at the park.

We arrived to much excitement by the girls as they saw the Space Shot and Monster roller coaster in the sky. They were both ready to hit up the rides as soon as we got in, and our first selection was the flying hot air balloons.

It was nice to be able to go on their first ride as a family, even if both my husband and I felt a little queasy getting off the spinning balloons. The girls then rode the ladybugs, a ride that I can remember going on when I was a child.

At about that time my oldest daughter started complaining she was hot and she didn’t want to walk anymore. History has shown this is a common complaint, and I thought she needed to toughen up and not whine so much.

We considered going on the Raging River to cool down but the 45 minute wait had us searching in other directions. As we made our way toward the water park we took in a few more rides, neither of which my oldest daughter wanted anything to do with.

My youngest daughter had a great time flying in the dragons and riding in the wagons but my oldest sat with her dad looking miserable. It was about that time we gave up on rides and headed toward the water.

I took a closer look at my daughter and realized that she was burning up all over and maybe it wasn’t just a 5-year-old whining because she didn’t want to walk. We got changed and in the water, and my spunky girl came back, ready to swim like a fish.

After taking in the waterpark for a couple of hours, including my brave little one climbing to the highest slide and going down by herself, we decided to take a break from the park and get some dinner. It was a hot day out and a break in air conditioning was in order to cool everyone down and hopefully have a fun night.

It rained a bit while we were eating, which brought the temps and humidity down making for much more enjoyable weather as we headed back in the park. Both girls were eager to get on rides, which was a welcome change from my sluggish girl in the afternoon.

We took in every ride that was available for the girls. My oldest said her favorite was the Scrambler, a little surprising because it goes fast and we weren’t sure if she would like it. My youngest declared the water to be her favorite, to nobody’s surprise, and both of them had a great time on the Tea Cups.

Adventureland was a lot of fun, even with our minor health scare. It was our first big outing to an amusement park and we learned a lot while we were there. I can’t wait to go back again (next year) and see the what new adventures the girls want to go on.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson
at jpierson@newtondailynews.com