Oaks Park

Yesterday we spent the last part of the day at Oaks Park. It calls itself an amusement park, but it's no Disneyland. It is more like a carnival/park/fair all in one. It is right on the waterfront of the Willamette River with lots of picnic areas so you can bring your own food and not pay outrageous prices for a hotdog. It has a kiddie area with rides, big kid screamer rides (they remind me of the Flower Festival in Lompoc), a roller skating rink, go karts, and the kind of games you spend all your money on to win a stuffed teddy bear. We have never been there before, and our library gave the kids discount passes as part of the summer reading program so we decided to use them this year. The kids had a great time. We spent most of our time in the kiddie area (our kids were too short to ride any of the big kid rides) because Tyson could ride everything. Tyson LOVED it!! Other parents probably thought he hated every ride because when the ride was over and he had to get off he would scream! Tyson has a very high pitched scream that can last awhile. I rode most of the stuff with the kids (Earl isn't a big carnival ride guy). Allison and Ethan wanted to brave the roller coaster they were tall enough for. Earl stayed with Tyson while I sat behind Allison and Ethan on the ride. The coaster immediately goes up and then down the biggest hill, up and down smaller hills, into a good spin and then goes around the track again. Ethan screamed (a scared scream) the whole time. I felt so bad for him. In his defense, the roller coaster was a bit jerky. But that was the only low point. We didn't arrive at the park until about 4pm and left at 8pm and our kids were pooped. What a good way to get them to sleep well!