Meet Valerie

On Saturday we decided to take advantage of our season passes and head to Six Flags. When we told Kiara where we were going, we got this reaction:

We encountered all sorts of creatures throughout our day, from Daffy Duck

to Valerie the elephant. I never thought I would ride an elephant but it was one of the most fun things I've ever done! Kiara loved Valerie (aka Ballerina) and would have ridden her all day.

Since that wasn't an option, we settled for the mechanical Valeries and it turns out she liked them just as much! A little girl wanted to get on the ride just as the last elephant got taken so we told her she could ride with Kiara. Of course they were fast friends.

After we bid farewell to the elephants, the frogs caught our eye. I think Ben enjoyed this ride even more than Kiara!

Ben enjoyed several of the rides with Kiara and was loving the daddy-daughter time;

that is until she told him she was too big to go with Dad and wanted to ride alone. Seriously. True story.

Luckily she was still willing to humor me, knowing that I wasn't as strong as dad and wouldn't be able to handle her rejection.

She even got excited to see the dolphins (for my benefit, I'm sure) and asked if she could get in and swim with them. I promised her that someday we will do that together, even if it is just at Six Flags.

Once she was back on the "I'm a big girl" kick we decided to let her spread her wings and try a semi-scary ride with all actual big kids.

As you can see, she was by far the smallest one on the ride (not to mention the cutest)

and I think, the bravest too. She wasn't scared at all!

But the highlight of our day came not with the wild animals or the thrill rides, but with the misting station. Kiara loves water, especially in her face so needless to say she was in Heaven!



It was an incredible day with perfect weather and even better company. I can't wait to go back.