Holiday World

We decided that the kids were big enough to take on an actual "family vacation" this year. We chose Holiday World because we had heard great things about the park. It was more family friendly than most other amusement parks in the area. They offered free drinks and sunscreen while you were in the park. That part rocked! We left on Wednesday, which was the day before Dustin's birthday. So, before we left, Dustin opened his gifts from us. The kids really wanted to help him and he is such a nice Daddy that he let them.

Everyone's excited about Daddy's birthday.

They all had to try on Daddy's gifts. Kendall called hers "a pretty yellow dress."

We left for Santa Claus, Indiana about 5:00 on Wednesday. We were lucky enough to have the Rodgers Family as our traveling partners. We stopped in Poseyville, IL to eat at The Feed Mill and then moved on to Jasper, IN where we were staying. When we drove through town, I was creeped out because it was 9:30 pm and everything was closed! I wondered aloud to Dustin what kind of place was this? When we checked in we realized that there was a time change and it was technically 10:30 pm. That explained a lot. We got the kids and all of our stuff unloaded and hit the sack. Dustin had a horrible sleeping partner in Kendall, and Braden wasn't much better with me. We made it through the night and were ready to eat breakfast before heading out to Santa Claus. We all had our fill at the awesome breakfast spread offered by the hotel and headed toward Holiday World. We arrived at 9:45 am to an empty parking lot. I kind of had that feeling Clark Griswald had when they arrived at Walley World. We did see some other cars toward the entrance to the park so I started to feel a bit better. When we bought our tickets and entered the park, we realized that since Indiana is SO odd, the park is actually on our time, not the same time as Jasper, IN. It turns out we were just really early! Not a usual occurrence in the Riechmann family! It worked out in our favor since we were some of the first families in line for some of the rides.

Here we come Holiday World!!!


Waiting for the park to open. We had a BEAUTIFUL day as far as weather was concerned!

Braden was mapping out his path through the park. Not really, he just liked looking at the map.

This was the ride that would make or break the trip for Kendall. It had a positive outcome! She loved it and was ready to ride more after this one. She actually cried when we took her out of it!

I wasn't so sure she'd like the Salmon Run. This ride was much more fast paced than the canoe ride. She got on it and I was SURE the operator was going to have to stop it. She had a terrified look on her face when the ride began, but she soon started enjoying herself...thank goodness!

Braden was having so much fun! He loved all of the rides with the exception of the roller coaster...

Kendall and I rode the carousel while the big boys rode the bumper cars. She would ride this one but not the one at the Zoo? I'll have to try it again next time we go!

I believe he is screaming, "Get me off of this ride RIGHT NOW!!!" This was the one ride he was a little afraid of. I don't think he has his Daddy's love of roller coasters...yet.

My kids love trains. This one was no exception. They enjoyed riding in the "coaches" as Braden is fond of calling them.

We ate lunch at Plymouth Rock - a family style restaurant. Dustin went all out for his birthday and ordered AND ate a giant turkey leg. Who needs cake when you can have meat on a bone?

The purpose of this picture is two-fold. I love pictures with my kids, but this was to prove that we went to the water park at Holiday World. While we were taking this picture, Dustin and Randy were riding a water slide, which normally took a long time due to the lengthy lines. I was such a nice wife for his birthday!

Braden enjoying a spin on the bumper boats.

These rides were in Christmas in Rudolph's Reindeer Ranch. Kendall LOVED these rides.

Enjoying some quiet time for 2 minutes while the kids were on a ride.

Riding the MooseRide with Jackson. It was a blast! Braden wouldn't ride it with me, so Jackson volunteered to ride it again so I wouldn't have to go alone. This and the carousel were the only rides I was able to partake in.

Braden on his seahorse.

Kendall on hers. This was one of her favorite rides...she was able to ride it twice!

All the kids on the carousel. They look tired. This was the last ride they did before we hit the road back to the hotel.

Token Holiday World photo. I'm sure Santa was very happy to have us there. Braden assured me that we wouldn't see the real Santa because he lives in the North Pole and he's busy planting a garden...what??

After we left the park, we had to find a place to eat dinner. Luckily, there was a great German restaurant next door to our hotel. We ate at Schnitzelbank, which is a fairly authentic restaurant. I opted for real German food: bockwurst, sauerkraut, and German potatoes. Dustin had surf & turf and a giant boot of beer: Das boot. We had a great time and the service was excellent.

Dustin and Das Boot. German for "too much beer in a boot." The waitress said they usually hold credit cards to make sure no one steals or breaks the boot. Wow...Germans are serious about their boot beer glasses! Braden said, "Daddy, when you are done drinking that are you going to wear that boot?" He looks a little stunned in this picture!

I tried drinking out of the boot. Not too much fun really. I'm not much of a shoe drinker.

The Riechmann and Rodgers families.

The kids wanted to sleep together at the hotel. We didn't think it would work out...

but it did. They were so tired, when the lights went out they fell fast asleep!

We had a great vacation. If we had it to do again, we'd stay in the same place and eat at the German restaurant again. The only difference may be that we would take 2 days to visit the park. We still felt like we didn't get to see all that the park had to offer. All in all the trip was a success. The kids survived the car rides there and back...and so did we! Thank Heavens for portable DVD players!!!!!!!