The Lee Family: California: Day 4

The girls and I woke up and got ready for a fun day at Knott's Berry Farm, one of my favorite places ever! Growing up, we lived about 15 minutes away from Knott's so we always had season passes and visited all the time. When I was young they had a petting zoo and I remembering Mom taking me there all the time just for a few hours. I can almost smell goats on my hands from feeding them and petting them when I was little. It's always so fun to visit Knott's and brings back so many fun memories of growing up, especially since so little has changed since I was little. My Aunt Cathy, Uncle Eric and their kids and grandkids planned on going to Disney and I'd originally planned on joining them, but after looking at how much it would cost and thinking of the long lines, I just didn't have it in me. I was going to cost nearly $500 for one day of Disneyland for the three of us! I just couldn't do it. Instead, I called Pancho before our reunion and asked if he'd be up for going with us to Knott's instead, which he agreed. I was so excited to spend the day with him and his kids too!

After we were ready, we headed downstairs to eat breakfast and ended up eating the buffet which I assumed was part of our hotel room. It ended up being part of a hotel package that we weren't part of, but they told us not to worry about it. We ate scrambled eggs, toast and yogurt since we knew we had a big day ahead of us. It was also going to be 106 degrees, which is incredibly hot for Southern California, so we packed up our waters and sat in the lobby waiting for Pancho and his kids. They made it downstairs at 9:30am and we piled into their van and drove to Knott's. Of course, we first stopped at Starbucks for a much-needed cup of coffee!

We arrived and parked at Knott's shortly after they opened, applied sunscreen and headed to the front gate to buy our tickets. Once inside, we decided to recreate the photo we took nearly six years before, the last time we all visited Knott's together. It's so hard to believe it's been that long and it was so exciting to be visiting together once again! It was already feeling pretty hot out, but coming from Texas it didn't really feel that different than what we've had, although we haven't had temperatures in the 100s yet. Max and Sam headed off together and agreed to touch base with Pancho via text regularly. Max's 17th birthday is actually tomorrow and Sam is 15, so they are old enough and mature enough to go off on their own, but I still asked Pancho when you're ready for your kids to strike out on their own in an amusement park. It still seems like a long time away for us to be ready! Lucy, Sofia, Olivia, Pancho and I headed into Camp Snoopy, where all the little kid rides are. Both girls are the perfect size and age to ride on all the rides and it was virtually empty, so they walked right on each of the rides. Lucy just hung out with Pancho and I, since she didn't want to go on the big roller coasters with her brothers. Sofia and Olivia ran around to each ride and were so excited and had so much fun! Since it was so empty, they often could stay on the ride after it ended and just go again, but sometimes they had to get off, run through the empty line, and get back on. They loved it! I was hoping I could try to recreate a photo I have of little Sofia and Sam together on a little kiddo car ride from six years ago, but that seems to be the one ride that is no longer there. Also, the little kid roller coaster wasn't running, but otherwise, I think they did every single ride in Camp Snoopy!

We headed out of Camp Snoopy so we could watch the bank robbery at the Ghost Town, which was going to happen at 2pm. We watched the bank robbers and Sofia was asked to describe what they looked like by a "local reporter" while the Sheriff led us back to the police station where all the kids drew sketches of the robbers to help find them. Then, a small group of kids met with the local bounty hunter and he took them through an initiation process that included looking through the bank robbers' camp site, walking through the graveyard and investigating any leads. It was really cute! By then, it was hot and we were all sweaty and thirsty. I was able to fill up out waters at any of the concession stands, but decided to buy two of the Knott's refillable drink containers which we could share and refill whenever we wanted throughout the day. Knott's makes their own Berry Punch, which is delicious and I'd completely forgotten about it. We filled both of our new cups with the Berry Punch and the girls loved it. Again, it took me back to when I was a little girl and drank it.

We decided to cool off further and headed to the Log Ride. Sofia was SO excited that we were FINALLY going to go! She'd been wanting to go all morning. Again, the line was incredibly short and we may have waited 15 minutes before the five us were in a log heading up into the "mine." Olivia sat in the very front, in front of me with Sofia, Lucy and Pancho behind me. The mechanical mannequins working and all the noises of the mine are exactly as they were when I was little and the smell of chlorinated water and oil reminded me of being little and going on the exact same ride - nothing has changed! The ride was exactly as I remembered it and Olivia grabbed onto me as we went into the dark area and then zipped downhill! It was a little shocking! Next, we approached the grand finale which was the big downhill where we all got wet. Sofia loved it while Olivia was horrified. She didn't cry but she said she didn't want to do that ever again.....It did feel good to be wet though!

We got off the Log Ride and Sofia wanted to go again, so the three of them went while Olivia and I hung out and watched. While we waited, Olivia decided she wanted to get her face painted. Luckily there was a face painting station right near the exit to the Log Ride, so she picked out the "purple princess mask" and the artist went to work. It turned out so cute and was amazing how quickly the woman painted it on her face. I figured it would melt off her face pretty quickly since it was so hot outside, but it stayed looking nearly perfect the entire day! After Pancho, Sofia and Lucy were off the Log Ride, we headed toward the Boardwalk which has most of the big roller coasters but also has the Sky Cabin, which used to be hot air balloon rides when I was a kid but is now an enclosed cabin that gives great views of Knott's and the entire area. Since it was already 3pm and no one had eaten, we stopped at a burger place but no one was really hungry, so we just ordered fries and refilled our drinks and rested in the air conditioning. I'm pretty sure the heat make us feel like we aren't hungry. Next to the burger place was a smaller roller coaster called Coast Rider, which Sofia and Olivia both agreed they wanted to go on! I couldn't believe it! So, Lucy, Sofia, Olivia and I decided to do it together. There was absolutely no line, so we walked right on to our 4-person car. It ended up being a lot of fun, but the drop-off in the first few minutes was terrifying and I never was able to keep my eyes open during it! Since there was no line, we went on it over and over, until I convinced the girls we needed a break and Pancho went with the girls in my place. My crazy girls couldn't get enough!

After, we headed back toward Calico Park and went on the Stage Coach ride and ended up going on the Log Ride several more times, which now Olivia loved. Olivia and I also went on the Calico Mine Ride, which was a little too loud for Olivia. She went through most of the ride covering her ears. The Mine Ride hasn't changed at all since I was a kid and the smell of sulfur and oil reminded me of being little and going on that ride. Finally, we met up with Sam and Max back at the Log Ride and just the cousins went together while Pancho and I waited to watch them go down the big drop. The girls decided they wanted glass figurines that they watched being made in a Ghost Town shop for their souvenir, so we headed back over there and Sofia picked out a dragon while Olivia picked out a swan. It was probably a terrible decision since they are very fragile and the girls couldn't wait to play with them. I envision tears in the future.

We left the park at 5pm so Pancho and his kids could get back on the road up toward home in Oregon and I'm sure my girls would have stayed for several more hours if it was up to them. On the drive back to our hotel to drop us off, Max suggested that they all swim to cool off before driving, which sounded like a terrific idea. It was such a fun day but it was very hot and we were all sweaty and tired. The cousins had a blast swimming together and Max, Sam and Sofia made up all sorts of challenge swimming games, races and dares and it was fun to see them all interact together. After about an hour, Pancho and his kids got out of the pool, dried off and got dressed and ready to head north toward home. The girls and I got out and gave them all hugs and said goodbye to some fun cousins! I'm hoping we see them next summer and think it would be so fun to visit them. We returned to our room and ordered room service. Other than the Berry Punch, we really hadn't eaten anything all day and I was suddenly very hungry. The girls showered and got into pjs and we ended up watching a crazy show called American Ninja Warrior, which has apparently been on tv for seven seasons but I've never heard of it. Obviously we aren't big show watchers. This show was great though with fit and athletic people trying to complete a very hard obstacle course. Sofia really got into it while Olivia watched and sucked her thumb. Our food finally arrived after an hour! I couldn't believe it! I was so hungry and the food tasted great while both girls really didn't eat as much or seem as hungry as I thought they would be. After eating, we climbed into bed and watched the end of American Ninja Warrior and Sofia really got into it. Olivia and I ended up falling asleep and Sofia woke me up at 10pm asking how to turn the tv off. She'd stayed up to watch the next show which was similar and said it was really good.

Cousins!