June 10

It’s finally here. The kids have been counting down the whole trip, the whole year actually, for the day they get to see their Day cousins and go to Kings Dominion. As happy as it makes me that they are so excited to see Ali, Ryan and Emma it is sad that Rachel and even Ryan have to refer to it as “meet their cousins”. It has been so long since we have seen them that Rachel and Ryan really don’t remember them at all. In fact when we got to Kings Dominion and saw the kids Taylor, Dallin and Rick ran up and talked to them and hugged them while Ryan leaned over to me and said, “do we know those ones”. Rachel has called Emma her favorite cousin forever and now they have finally met and they love each other. Well Rachel loves Emma, Emma was probably getting pretty tired of being loved so much by the time the day is over. Rachel has a hard time keeping her hands off and not smothering. But they got along great and were super cute together.

Kings Dominion was “wicked awesome” as Ryan put it. We rode roller coasters, cooled off in the water park and had lunch at the Juke Box Diner. As fun as it was it was definitely a reminder of who old I am getting. I love roller coasters, or at least I used to. I think I still do but I felt a little dominated after riding “The Dominator”, and “The Intimidator” was just a bit intimidating. But they were still so fun. My stomach didn’t use to roll like that and my body didn’t use to cry so much at being jerked around. The kids love “ticklish belly”. Me not so much. But the anticipation of being dropped, the sensation of feeling weightless, and the fear of being thrown to my death still bring that thrill that makes you laugh while screaming.

It was hot, really, really hot. I spent the entire day absolutely drenched. The idea of a dip in the pool sounded so refreshing until I stepped into what felt more like a hot tub instead of a wave pool. But being wet still cools you down. As far as crowds go, it was perfect, there wasn’t any. We rarely waited in line for anything. We walked on to almost every ride. Which was really nice because I hate standing in line, and as hot as it was I don’t know that I could have handled it.

After much deliberation we decided that Rick and Taylor would go on to D.C to the temple that night and that I and the rest of the kids would go home with the Days. Taylor is going to the temple to do baptisms Saturday morning and the thought of watching the kids in the visitors center or the hot RV all morning just was too much for me, so we rode home with Kim. We will all meet up again tomorrow and go to Monrovia so Rick can show us around his old stomping ground.