Connyland, where absolutely nothing broke

I'd promised the kids that we could go back to Connyland amusement park this week, as one last big treat before school starts next week. With summer colds and Alex's injury, we had to postpone the trip until today, our last day of summer vacation. You might remember that our last trip to Connyland was somewhat ill-fated, but I'm happy to say that today we had an absolutely wonderful time. Nothing broke at all.

Of course, we had our long train and bus ride to get there at the outset, but since we were making a holiday of it, I had absolutely no qualms about letting the kids watch Smurf cartoons the whole way.  And that left me to drink my coffee and look out the window.  I swear, I'll never get tired of looking at the rows and rows of train tracks leading out from the Hauptbahnhof, and then the pretty Swiss scenery.  My German teacher was teaching me words for traffic and driving, and he commented on how monotonous the driving in America can be. I can't quite agree, but I have to say, the scenery here is much more condensed, with stunning flower fields and rivers and lakes and mountains flying in rapid succession past your window.

I tapped the kids' shoulders when Connyland came into view, and Joey's reaction was special: "Wow! I want to go there!  What? I can? Yay!"  Ella and Alex joined hand and ran straight to the bumper cars, and then bounced between those and the frog hopper.  The rides were too big for Joey, though, so we ducked into the tent and watched a parrot show.

I remember my parents taking me to a similar show in Florida when I was small: I think it might have been in Tarpon Springs. Before the show started, the animal trainer gave Joey some sunflower seeds to feed to the birds. Joey was initially excited, but he quickly grew indignant when the parrot spat out the shells, thinking that the bird was rudely refusing his treat.

He forgave the birds, though, as the show started.  The parrots did all the same tricks that I remember from the show I saw so long ago: riding a tiny bicycle, counting, hoisting a little Swiss flag.  Joey was wiggly with excitement. He was quiet for most of the show, except for his applause, but at the end over and confided "Parrots like toys. I like toys, too."

Ella and Alex had been bumped and bounced around enough by the time the show was over, and so we went on a couple of the rides that the kids could enjoy together: the habitrail playground, the foam ball shooting gallery, and the dinosaur-hunting ride.  Ella and Alex teamed up for the ride at first, and so Joey and I were left to defend ourselves. Joey plopped himself behind the steering wheel of the car (which didn't do anything: it's a dark ride on a track) while I half-heartedly shot a few of the targets before putting back the gun.  But Joey noticed immediately and called to me "NO, MOM!  KEEP US SAFE! And so I picked up my gun again while Joey carefully navigated our way through the dinosaur wreckage, keeping us safe.

Alex decided that he wanted a turn with us, and so the brothers took over in the front of our car, Joey still steering carefully while Alex held the dinosaurs at bay with great success. They make a good team, those two. And we rode that ride at least ten times before the day was over.

Alex, hanging out with the sea lions.  He wasn't sure
this was such a good thing, what with the pungent
fish breath.

I fed the kids lunch on the fly as we walked around, and then, as the heat of the day started getting to us, I took them to a couple of other animal shows, one with seals and another with dolphins.  The kids and I were all green with envy when a kid was selected to be pulled around the lagoon in a little boat by a dolphin, while the other dolphins leapt around her. We never get to do anything fun!

We were hot enough at this point that the little water ride next to the dolphins looked pretty darn enticing. We rode the ride ourselves, once: you get to float around a track in a little boat, and you're given a hand-cranked water pistol that you can use to shoot at passersby, making an obnoxious menace of yourself.  In the center of the ride is a little kids' water playground, and after the ride was over we headed to the changing room to put on our bathing suits.

Poor Alex, I don't know how these things always happen to him, but he locked himself in his changing stall and couldn't spring the lock open. (I guess something broke, after all.) The door was too close to the ground for him to crawl under and there were no attendants; I was weighing my options, wondering if I should leave Ella with him while Joey and I left to look for help, when Ella decided that she could climb over the wall to help her brother. I suspected she could, with the agility she's earned through six months on Swiss playgrounds, so I hoisted her over the top of the stall and she had Alex out in a half a second.  And then, while chattering victoriously about her brave rescue, Ella spotted some money on the floor, 2.10 CHF.  We decided it was karma.

Joey and Alex kids ran around the pool a little, squealing as they tried to avoid the water guns of the boat riders passing by them, but Ella stood quietly at the entrance, assessing the situation.  And then she dashed off, calling "Hey, Alex, you know all those people who keep shooting us? If we stood over there, we could splash the people in the boats back!" Within moments, there was a small herd of preteen boys mimicking her, soaking the boat riders with their splashes.  I couldn't help but notice that the line for the boat ride was a lot shorter as we left the park.  I must remind Ella to use her powers for good.

We didn't end up leaving Connyland until almost 5:00, spending much of the afternoon riding circuits through the dinosaurs.  But finally the kids decided they were ready to go home: Joey falling asleep in his stroller was a good clue that it was time to go.  

I took some videos today, mostly of the parrots, so that I could show them to Ella and Alex. But I thought that some of the kids' friends friends would enjoy seeing the birds, too:  Joey would have me play this little video on constant repeat if he had his way:

At the end of a fun, fun day