Day 34: Gold Reef City

Today was finally the day for us to go to Gold Reef City amusement park!!  It was sprinkling when we woke up, but the weather said the rain would clear by noon, so we decided to risk it and go.  We got ready and met Auntie Bev at her house.  The clouds did look like they were clearing on parts of our drive!  Auntie Bev lead the way and lead us on a bit of a scenic tour :)  After almost getting run off the road by a semi truck (traffic was stopped for something and the wouldn't let us merge in.  It was not a near-death experience), we got headed in the right direction.  We came to a one-lane bridge right before we arrive at the park, as you can see below.

No signals, just a one-lane surprise!!!  Thankfully after a couple minutes, the other direction stopped and let us cross!

When we arrived, it was definitely different than what we are used to!  There were very few cars in the parking lot!  Yay for us....that means shorter lines!  We started in the kid's area and let Nicolas, Mary, and Amy Rose go on some rides and then we headed into the main park for the bigger rides.  Here are some pics:

Ride #1: the carousel

Racing in the antique cars!

They put me in jail!

The log ride take #1: Mary, Kevin, Amy Rose, and Simone

(Can you see Mary leaning over in the front??  Uh oh!!  She was ok!)

Log ride take #2: Nicolas and Kieran.  Nicolas loved it as you can see!

This was the Thundering River Rapids.  We all had wet bums after than one!!!

And what trip to the amusement park is complete without an old time photo.  We were hunters on an African safari!

We were also able to go to the circus while we were there!  They had a magician, the acrobatic brothers, a girl who flipped on the long pieces of fabric hanging from the ceiling, a trapeze artist, tigers and horses, a clown, fire-eating, and juggling.  They did a skit where the ring leader acted like their juggler was missing, but then he took his coat off and did the juggling.  When he took his coat off, he had a vest on underneath.  He also had a large tattoo on his shoulder.  Amy Rose said "Oh wow!!!" as he took it off.  It was hilarious!!!!

Right before we went to do our photo, it started to rain.  Ok.....I can handle sprinkles.  Then is started really coming down.......this is when my newness as a mom comes out.  No rain coats!  We got wet, but thankfully we didn't melt!!  The rain stopped while we were taking our photos, so we had a chance to dry out.

Another difference from American theme parks, they close at 5PM.  So....we rode until they wouldn't let us ride anymore!  Everyone had a great time!  We headed back toward home and had dinner at Auntie Bev's.

What a fun day!!!  Tomorrow is a lazy day for us.  Our only real plan is to head back to the consulate to pick up Nicolas' visa.  Hoping for sunshine!!

The Longstreets