Sunday was our company picnic at Waldameer Park. I think the last time I was at Waldameer was more than 10 years ago when my father had his company picnics there. While so much of the park is the same, there's some things that are different, too. However, most of the different things are geared toward older kids or adults.
After our lunch, we headed straight for the water park. My last visits to Waldameer were filled with time on the lazy river or riding innertubes down some of the water slides. This time we headed straight for the little kid area where the water is knee-high on a 20-month-old child.
Autumn wasn't sure at first, but when we started playing with her, dipping her toes in the water and splashing a little water with our own hands, she warmed up pretty quickly. Soon she was splashing herself, walking a few steps out on her own and even bending down on her knees. It was so cute to watch her get brave and to watch her play.
After the water park, we took her over by the kid rides. I asked her if she wanted to drive a car, but she fussed. We walked around a bit and then we saw the boats. When I told her before we left that we were going to play in water she said, "Water. Boa-tah." So, we tried the boat ride, which she loved! She was holding one steering wheel in each hand, riding around with a smile on her face. Then when the ride ended, she cried because she didn't want off. There were quite a few kids in the same situation.
I thought she'd be able to ride again right away since the lines were short. But the operator shut the boats down for a bit so she could go run the airplane ride. No more boats for a while, which stunk. She rode the little horses/carts around once. She rode the cars. But none seemed to be as much fun as the boats. They were running again before we left, but at 6 p.m. it was getting to be dinner again and we needed to head home.
A coworker of mine said she and her husband have sometimes stopped by and just bought a small package of tickets. With each of the kiddie rides only one ticket each, their young daughter would get quite a few rides in on a given evening. The best part is that there's no admission to the park part, so Mom and Dad can go for free to watch the child ride and ride. The park stays open Tuesday through Sunday until 10 p.m.
We might be back this year and try this ticket package. If not, you can be sure we'll be back next year to see Autumn even more excited than she was this year. I'm looking forward to it.