Cliff's Amusement Park~Homeschool Band

On Friday, we joined the kids and adults of our Homeschool Band group at Cliff's Amusement Park in Albuquerque, for a fun- filled, exciting day.
One of the best things about the day was that John was able to join us, too. It's so wonderful when our entire family can do special things together.

Daddy & Daughter: Beautiful! I took this photo after we all rode the Galaxi Roller Coaster. It was a pretty tame coaster as coasters go, except that it spun in corkscrews for a long time, which makes me a little ill. Jenna didn't like it at all. She didn't like the end part of the log flume either. Of course, she rode in the very front with a first-hand view of that steep drop, so I don't blame her at all.
Jackson & Jeremiah getting ready to take-off on the Galaxi coaster.
Up they go!
And around and around they go! They both rode this coaster 4 times!
The Carousel was more Jenna's pace. And John's too, ever since he got the shunt placed in his head several years ago. John and Jenna spent alot of time in Kiddie Land while I rode the faster rides with our boys.
But we all rode the carousel. Of course, the boys had to try out some stunts to make it a little more exciting. The ride for me is very relaxing and nostaligic, but mostly I just like riding any horses I can.
Then there was a go round on the jeep ride. But later, Daddy and Jenna rode it a few times again. There were no lines at all on Friday, so we basically just walked on all the rides or just stayed on to ride again.
Just clownin' around.
Jenna absolutely loved this puppy ride! And she always chose to ride in the black and white puppy. Of course, she is the 'founder' of Laughing Orca Ranch, and would probably choose to have all of our critters be black and white! hehe
Jenna rode this so many times we all lost count.
Jenna liked this balloon ride, too. I rode it once with her...it is very very very very sloooow. Did I mention how slow it is? John took Jenna on this ride several more times. I don't know how he managed to stay awake during the ride.....
This is probably the last year that the boys will be able to ride any of the Kiddie Land rides, unless they ride with their sister. They seemed to know this and tried to ride every ride in Kiddie Land, just because they still could.
They also tried to act cool while riding these silly rides. But anyone could tell they were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Both of them were making everyone laugh with their silliness.
These two sons of mine are the ultimate clowns! They are always doing silly things and making everyone laugh.
Jeremiah had an awesome time on the bumper cars. He and his brother rode these at least 5 times. Thankfully there were no lines to wait in.
Jackson was in his element cruising around. Ironically he didn't like bumping or getting bumped. He just want to drive fast!
And just to let their sister know he loved her, Jackson took Jenna on the carousel ride so they could ride together.
The New Mexico Rattler Coaster is a screamer! During the entire ride there are no breaks to catch your breath. You just keep whipping around and up and down and under and over, all around the entire park! It's a blast! My boys and I rode this coaster twice and probably would have rode a few more times, if it hadn't been getting late. We wanted to ride the Big Flush (basically a rubber raft ride through two pipes that twist around, one pitch black and one green) before we left. Both were very fun!
All 3 of our kids wanted to squeeze in one more Kiddie Land ride on the bumpy ATV's. Jenna hated it and wanted off right away. Jackson thought it was great.
The ride attendant had to turn off the ride for Jenna. Jeremiah was sort of bummed, but at least my kids were the only other ones on this ride.

We rode a few other rides and ate corn dogs and drank slush puppies. And then we drove back to the mountains to watch Jax and Jem play a 3 1/2 hour baseball game.
When we finally got home, it was dark and we were exhausted!
But the horse, goats, sheep, llamas, chickens, chicks, dog, cats, fish and guinea pigs still needed to be fed and tucked in for the night.
Such is the life on Laughing Orca Ranch!