(click here for today's pictures)
So if we are ranking days, this would be one of the top 10 in my life. Well, I don't know if I can go that high since I am married and have 6 kids those days should all be in that top 10. Hmm, at least today is in the top 20. It was so, so much fun.
This was also a good trial run for our upcoming Disney days. I walked over 20,000 steps and we were on the move from 9 until 9 at the Village and Museum. The kids all did great even without a real lunch (lunch time was super busy) and just lots of snacks. Whitman walked it all like a champ-we have been debating buying a super cheap stroller for Disney for him some but mostly for our bags.
The morning started off with us all waking up on time and in good moods. Robby and I were the most excited about today so we were moving fairly early this morning. We ate our breakfast in the lobby. I had some of my granola with their yogurt, and it was delicious. Now, we did have to get ingenious since their toaster wasn't working. Graham, the rule follower, almost died when I put his bagel on the waffle maker. It was so perfectly toasted that Robby did the same thing with his.
The village opened at 9:30, and we had been told that several thousand people would be in line at 9. So we were in line a bit before 9 and ended up at the front of one of the gates. I am not too sure how many people were behind us since we hauled it to ride the Model Ts.
We had ridden twice yesterday, giving 4 kids a chance to be in the front. We knew that things would be busy today so we only expected to ride once today. We were some of the first riders this morning-mainly because we knew where we were going, and most everyone here this morning was over the age of 60.
On our Model T ride around the village, we were able to see all of the cars. They said that there would be 800 cars today, and I believe it. There were signs telling what year, and then there would be a line of cars parked that were that year old. Every space imaginable was antique cars.
Our driver on my Model T ride told me that he hoped to have a car in the next year's show. He is looking at one on ebay for around 7 thousand. He said that right now you can kind of get them cheap, because the population that has them are older and are starting to die so their families are selling their cars very cheap. Anderson and Graham heard all of this, and they seemed interested in getting themselves a Model T some day too.
The rest of the day was spent talking about what kind of Model T our family should get. And a bigger discussion was if I was going to make them wear period clothes if we had the car. I assured them that we would be dressed in 1920s attire if they had a Model T. Many of the car owners were dressed too match their cars. The firetruck had firemen, the fancy cars had people in flapper dresses, the trucks had people in overalls. Even little kids were dressed up.
After our Model Ts ride, we walked around the Village for a little bit. We didn't have a whole lot of time until it was time for us to walk back to the Museum. So we walked through some of the cars on our way to the train. We rode the train around the park and could see the people flooding in.
Then we booked it to the Museum. The Museum is at least a 1/4 mile long so we had to walk that distance plus that much or more trying to exit the Village. Of course, we were a bit behind schedule so we had to hurry. Poor Whitman and Keaton-for every step I took today, they took 2!
This Imax was 3D. It was okay, but not as spectacular as yesterdays. I only caught myself dozing off once during it. When it was over, we walked back to the car to put up our jackets. We were so fortunate to be there early so we had awesome parking. They had shuttles set up and all, but some people were having to park forever away.
Back in the Village, we played some carnival games. Then at the green space, where we have seen them play baseball, they were having car races. Not really speed, but they were having to drive to a line and have a Chinese Firedrill, carry an egg on a spoon out the car window or drive around and pick up potatoes with a stick.
Then a team from Canada assembled a Model T in 6 minutes. I know that is how long it took them because Graham was the official stopwatch man. He was thrilled with his job, but I was a nervous wreck worried that he would mess up their time!
There was some more walking around the Village. We tried to get some food at the main cafeteria, but it was crazy crowded. Robby did get to the front of a line to get some mac and cheese, but they couldn't use credit cards right then.
That was fine though because we found a shady spot and unzipped my backpack. We all had some cheese sticks and peanut butter crackers along with our refillable cup from the movie earlier, we were good to go.
We then went to the main party area and tried to win at the cake walk. Now, there were 32 squares and 8 Dennies, so you would think that we had a 25 percent chance. We weren't playing for a little cupcake, this was for a real cake. I really wanted that cake. It would have been perfect to dig into it under a tree somewhere while watching the streets lined with cars. Alas, after 4 rounds, it was just not meant to be. Whitman and I were probably the most disappointed about not winning.
We were still able to watch the cars-there were all kinds of traffic jams in the Village. A few corners even had police dressed in old timey uniforms directing traffic. It was awesome. When we rode our Model T, we drove through the covered bridge, and it was spectacular.
Since we were still drooling from seeing others win our cakes, we headed to the Museum where lines were shorter. Robby bought some mac and cheese and baked potato soup. We all gobbled that down before going to our last movie about Apollo 11. We did refill our popcorn bag then and settled in to watch the movie. The movie was really good. It wasn't 3D but was very interesting (I even stayed awake.)
Next up was a walk around the Museum. We saw some of the highlights-we were just here 3 months ago! We did manage to stay at the Museum until their closing time at 5. We were all quite interested in the people setting up at party. Turns out it was a wedding reception, which looked to be quite swanky. I saw thousands of dollars worth of flowers, plus there was going to be a coke float station along with a mashed potato bar. I was quite jealous that we couldn't stay.
We then went back to the car to grab our coats since it was going to get chilly again when the sun started going down. We also grabbed another snack and headed back to the Village. This time our mission was the go to the playground. We let the kids play there for a long while before they rode the carousel.
After the carousel, it was getting to be time for the gas light parade. We sat down and watched the cars go down the road. There were so many different kinds of cars and watching them with their lights on was really neat. We decided that we would walk some more and left our spot.
Not 50 feet from where we were sitting, we ran into a firetruck driver who asked if we wanted a ride. We said sure and soon we were on a 1924 Model T firetruck. Whitman and Keaton did the horn and the siren so needless to say, everyone knew that we were coming. It was so fun-Campbell stood up in the back as we went down the streets and through the covered bridge.
After this, we went back to the once crowded cafeteria. By now it had calmed down, and we bought a bowl of tomato soup along with a plate with green beans, potatoes, and some type of old meatball like dish. It was all very good, and we enjoyed a break.
Then it was back towards the main festival area. We found a spot to land, and the kids took turns going exploring. Whitman and I returned to the games for him to play again, Keaton and Reagan watched the dancers dance along to the band. Graham checked on the Model T rides which were closed. And I explored the tent food area-I really wanted the 5 dollar peach cobbler along with a 10 dollar baked beans served in a tin cup. Instead I ate a granola bar from my bag!
After the dancing, the little firework show began. The weather couldn't have been better. Where we were sitting couldn't have been better. Yes, there was a tree in front of us, but that is how we like to watch our fireworks. It was just perfect.
Once the fireworks were over, some folks started leaving. We sat for a little bit waiting on the band. Soon we heard them coming-the band and dancers led the parade of people dancing and clapping out of the village gates. It was so fun despite the huge crowd of people and trying to keep up with all of our people. Reagan said later that this parade was her favorite part.
We then headed to our car, and surprisingly it was easy to get out of the parking lot and on the road. Robby did order everyone something to eat at the Wendy's next door to our hotel. We ate our suppers while the kids cycled through the showers. Tomorrow we head homeward, so we will have plenty of driving to do!
No comments:
Post a Comment