Magic Mountain

Anh Thu and her family were sweet enough to drive up to LA this morning to see us while we were in California--and they could hang with the cousins too. We had talked about if we wanted to go out and do something touristy or just stay at home and have quality family time with everyone. I would have been happy with both, but kind of liked the idea of doing something since we were already there. I had seen that there was a Thomas Town at Magic Mountain and thought that Andrew and Brennan might enjoy that.

So, it was Anh Thu's family--Rick, Anh Thu, Cara, Emma, and Brennan. Then, our family--James, me, and Andrew. Then, Duc's family--Duc, Josie, and Jayda. And lastly, we had one stowaway, Nhat's youngest daughter, Kyana (her sister Kimmie had a full day planned and it wouldn't have been much fun for Kyana to be dragged along so Nhat let her come with us). So, doing the math, we had five adults, one teenager, and six little ones.

When we arrived at the park, I noticed a gentleman holding up his horns, so I stuck up my horns back to him. I then asked him if he went to the game to which he replied no. He informed us that he graduated from UT at Dallas and was bummed about the loss as we all were. He asked if we had been there before, which many of us haven't. He explained how best to manuver around the park and things we should take the little ones too. Anh Thu then joked that there should be some consolation prize for the losers of the Rose Bowl every year...like free admisssion or at least, a free ice cream. The gentleman joked that he wished he could do that, but what he could do for us is provide us with VIP passes enabling us to bypass the lines!! Sure enough, if you looked closely, you could read his nametag...Jay Thomas, Park President. No way!! So we got our wristbands and started off.

First, we came upon the log ride called LogJammer, which many of the kids wanted to ride. Anh Thu and I stayed back with Brennan and Andrew and took them to Bugs Bunny World. We took the boys to drive trucks at Taz's Trucking Co. Then, the rest of the group met us with us and we explored the rest of Bugs Bunny World. First, most of the kids (and Rick and Duc) rode Yosemite Sam's Flight School. Then, we went to the Looney Tunes Lodge, which was like a playhouse with balls everywhere! Next, we rode Foghorn Leghorn's Barn and Railway ride, which was a small fun roller coaster. No one was in line after us so we rode it back to back! It was fun getting to ride it with Brennan! Then, some of the kids rode Sylvester's Pounce and Bounce. At first, Brennan didn't want to ride, but then changed his mind. So, Duc was volunteered to ride on it with him! Ha ha! Then the kids rode some more rides like Pepe Le Pew's Tea Party and .

Then, we decided to head over to Thomas Town so the boys could check it out. Andrew was so giddy and Brennan was too. We immediately rode Thomas--the boys were so happy. After the ride, it filters you to the gift shop with a train table. Andrew and Brennan proceeded to play not even caring about all the other stuff in the store. We bought a few things including a Thomas engineer hat for Andrew. Brennan didn't want one so I bought him Bertie the Bus for his track at home instead. Duc bought the boys matching Thomas t-shirts of which we immediately put them on. So cute!! Brennan and a few of the girls rode Percy the Roller Coaster while Andrew continued to play at the train table.

After we left Thomas Town, we headed for some bigger rides so the adults could partake in some fun. Rick, Josie, James, and I first rode Goliath, which took way longer than we expected due to the ride breaking down while we were on it about to head up the first incline. After about a fifteen minute wait, they fixed the ride, which always makes it more interesting of a ride. Anyhow, the ride was really good. Andrew didn't miss us too much with Brennan, the girls, Anh Thu, and Duc.

We then decided it was easier to split up. The girls wanted to go back to Bugs Bunny World so Anh Thu and Duc took them and the boys back there while Rick, Josie, James and I would ride some of the larger rides. I felt really bad about leaving Andrew and both Daddy and I offered to stay behind. But Duc and Anh Thu assured us it was fine.

So, the big kids headed to Superman the Escape. Decent ride. Then, we tried to ride Josie's favorite, Riddler's Revenge, but it was closed. Along the way, we thought we found a good roller coaster ride for Cara to ride so we headed back to join the group. We got them and headed to Goldrusher, but someone suggested Cara ride the Ninja instead. At that time, Riddler's Revenge was back open so Rick, Josie, and Daddy went to ride it while I stayed with the group. So, we started walking to Ninja (a long grueling uphill walk especially with kids who were getting tired) to find out it was closed!! Boo! So, we headed down to the carousel which was nearby. The girls had fun riding it. Andrew of course wanted to ride in the car and not on one of the horses. By then, the trio finished riding Riddler's Revenge and were headed to the big ride there called X2. I wanted to ride it so I met them at the ride. I am so glad I did. It is probably the best ride I have ever ridden in all my life. I get chills just thinking about it now!

By then, it was late (a lot later than I thought we would last there); and the kids were dog tired! We headed back to Duc's house for even more fun. Most the kids fell asleep on the drive home including Andrew.

I have to say it was really a great day. It was awesome getting the VIP passes, which helped a ton, but my favorite part of the day was watching the kids. It's so great seeing cousins and second cousins play together. They were so happy and excited. You can't help to get caught up in their smiles and laughter.

Thanks everyone for spending the day with us and thanks to Anh Thu and Duc for watching Andrew!! And thanks for taking so many pictures of the little ones.

Again, I am posting some of my favorites from today, but the rest are posted on shutterfly.