Gilroy Gardens

It was a disaster! Well.. maybe not a disaster but certainly not the fun day that I thought it would be.

The day didn't start off too great. Caleb woke up early this morning - roughly around 6:15am. I took him to The Little Gym thinking that a class would tire him out so that he could take his morning nap on the drive down to Gilroy. Well that plan failed. Instead Caleb paid a lot of attention to what my niece Allyson was doing in the car and stayed awake the whole time.

The first thing we did when we got into Gilroy Gardens was go on the merry-go-round. I tried to put him on a horse but he wanted nothing to do with it. So we sat on a bench and enjoyed the ride. It was pleasant and I thought it would get better from there.


The next ride we went on was one where the kid goes by himself. It was a goldfish ride that goes up and down as it goes around in a circle. While waiting I picked up Caleb and kept asking him if he wanted to go on the ride. He was pointing to it and said "yeah" I thought okay, he'll be fine. He wasn't antsy or overly excited like my niece but it's also the first time he's ever been to an amusement park. Our turn came up and I put him in a goldfish. He fussed a bit but seemed to be okay when I buckled him in.

When the ride started he looked a bit startled and cried. The operator asked if I wanted to stop the ride and take him out. I started to wave and clap (like all the other moms) and say "yay Caleb" After a few seconds he calmed down and just looked like he was holding on to the sides of the goldfish. I thought great... he's getting used to it and maybe enjoys it a little. Well as soon as that ride stopped, the meltdown began. He wanted OUT of that goldfish and unfortunately the operator had to come around to each goldfish and use some sort of pin to undo the buckle. And the evil operator decides she's gonna undo Caleb's buckle LAST. GGRR. So I'm standing there helpless and trying to console Caleb. He's probably thinking "Get me out! Why aren't you getting me out!?!?" I must admit this all happens in roughly a minute but still...

By this time it's around noon so I tell my sister that Caleb probably is hungry and we should go eat. Lunch went okay. He didn't eat a whole lot of his cheese pizza. We went to this farm area where they had a petting zoo. All Caleb wanted was for me to carry him all around. By then it was about 1pm and he had been up for more than 6 hours and NEEDED a nap. I told my sister that I was going to stroll him around to see if he'll fall asleep.

I strolled around the park and much to my relief Caleb fell asleep!! I think this was only the 2nd time he's ever fallen asleep in his stroller (not counting when he was a newborn and slept all day) I parked myself on a bench near a waterfall thinking the waterfall was just like the white noise machine I have at home.

My iPhone and Facebook could only entertain me for so long... so I got a text from my sister saying she was at the kiddie rides and about to go on a firetruck ride. When I met up with her Caleb woke up a few minutes after that. I guess something woke him up (he must be a light sleeper like me) I checked the time... he only took a half hour nap. :( I guess I should have entertained myself more on that bench near the waterfall.

I tried putting Caleb in the firetruck ride and a racecar ride. Wouldn't do it. My sister suggested we go on a couple of rides that I can ride with Caleb. We went on a ride called the Artichoke Dip and it went okay. But he certainly wasn't thrilled and didn't want to go again. I tried to take him on a similar ride called the Apple & Worm but as soon as I pulled the bar down he wanted OUT. I had to call the operator over and ask her to release the bar so we could climb out. It was such a bummer. We tried to go to the playground structure but all Caleb wanted was for me to carry him. By that time I was over the whole amusement park. He wasn't his usual happy self and I think it's because he was tired and needed a longer nap. Or maybe he just isn't into roller coasters and amusement parks. Or maybe he was a little too young for it. I'll try again next year. :)

My niece Allyson (who turned 23 months today) had a great time. She couldn't wait for her turns for the ride and enjoyed every single minute. She fell asleep in the stroller as we were getting ready to leave the park.