When you think of a day in an amusement park - what comes to mind?
I imagine a fairly relaxed day, laughing out loud, navigating the park with relative ease utilizing a handy dandy map explaining rides and height restrictions....
But this day was a little different.
We absolutely did have some smiles and giggles, there were some moments of relaxation, and we enjoyed some of the surroundings.
What this day really gave me was a greater understanding of how I was spoiled.
Florida's amusement parks spoiled us (the maps, the ability to plan...).
And I realized the lack of empathy I have had in the past for those who don't speak English at amusement parks in the states; new perspective and much empathy was born inside me this day.
I also clearly realized we still need to learn a vast amount of language for basic survival here. :)
We went to a park translated to, "Happy Valley."
Each map had a wonderful English translation of,... just the heading. Nothing else had an English translation. There were many rides inside buildings. I'm pretty certain if we were literate in Chinese we could've figured out what they were, but not being so, we didn't venture onto any indoor rides.
The Lord blessed us with stunning blue sky on this incredibly warm day.
One of our kids favorite places was the "Naughy Castle." haha
Pretty sure they meant "Naughty." :) It was an indoor playground with a/c. Woohoo!!
Inside the park we saw the coolest KFC we've seen so far. :)
We didn't eat there but thought it was neat (we had McDonalds instead). ;)
We were surprised how the kiddie slide area looked almost exactly like the one at Legoland Florida.
Cool hair on our toothless little man. :)
I have no idea how he can do that and not drink the water (which is truly unwise with all the naked kids in this place). lol
Sugar, plus sweat = a mess. :)
A cute mess, but a mess nonetheless. :)
There were some impressive rides here but our kids were too small to ride most.
Letting 4 year olds shoot cannons - SURE! :)
She is saying, "YES!" as she hit the target.
I imagine a fairly relaxed day, laughing out loud, navigating the park with relative ease utilizing a handy dandy map explaining rides and height restrictions....
But this day was a little different.
We absolutely did have some smiles and giggles, there were some moments of relaxation, and we enjoyed some of the surroundings.
What this day really gave me was a greater understanding of how I was spoiled.
Florida's amusement parks spoiled us (the maps, the ability to plan...).
And I realized the lack of empathy I have had in the past for those who don't speak English at amusement parks in the states; new perspective and much empathy was born inside me this day.
I also clearly realized we still need to learn a vast amount of language for basic survival here. :)
We went to a park translated to, "Happy Valley."
This is the map. Since there were none to carry along with us, we took a close up.
Unfortunately, our hanzi (Chinese character) reading isn't that good yet. :)
Each map had a wonderful English translation of,... just the heading. Nothing else had an English translation. There were many rides inside buildings. I'm pretty certain if we were literate in Chinese we could've figured out what they were, but not being so, we didn't venture onto any indoor rides.
The Lord blessed us with stunning blue sky on this incredibly warm day.
One of our kids favorite places was the "Naughy Castle." haha
Pretty sure they meant "Naughty." :) It was an indoor playground with a/c. Woohoo!!
We didn't eat there but thought it was neat (we had McDonalds instead). ;)
After lunch we went to the water park.
Did I mention it was a super hot day?
Cold water felt fantastic!
Ian was pretty disappointed that he was too small for most of the slides.
Although, he did really enjoy the wave pool. :)
The kids have to be 1.4 meters tall to ride most of the slides (even on the kiddie slide area).
Funny story... The lifeguard told me I couldn't go into the wave pool because I wasn't wearing a swimsuit. I was. It is just a very modest swimsuit (rash guard with board/swim shorts). I told him I was wearing my swim suit. He said, "Really?" I found this funny as many kids were in the pool with no swimsuit (yes, just their birthday suit). haha!
We were surprised how the kiddie slide area looked almost exactly like the one at Legoland Florida.
I have no idea how he can do that and not drink the water (which is truly unwise with all the naked kids in this place). lol
What better snack after a hard day of play?
Cotton candy! We asked if they'd like some - "of course we would!"
How may? Well 3 of course!
Wow!! Who knew they were going to be so big and beautiful! :)
No complaints from these kiddos though (other than it is hot outside). :)
A cute mess, but a mess nonetheless. :)
However, learning to shoot machine guns - absolutely big enough to do. :)
She is saying, "YES!" as she hit the target.
The end of the day I saw this 4D theater that said, "Ant Theater, 4D," with a cute little Bug's Life like cartoon ant on the sign.
I thought, "GREAT! It will probably be like the ant 4D show at Animal Kingdom!"
Haha....truly an illiterate-in-Chinese parent fail.
Again, being literate in the language of your host country is important!!!
It was a 4D movie but not about animated ants.
Nope.
Full on science fiction.
Kind of a Transformers meets Godzilla movie, with monster blood squirting...
My kids were not happy. :(
So, as we tried to end on a positive note, they got to drive their own transformer. It was great fun! You can find fun things like these a lot of places here.
We were thankful for our day off language to spend with the kids. Much needed amidst the mommy guilt I have had this summer for studying too much and enjoying them too little.
For my friends who are local or visiting...
Would I recommend Happy Valley?
Sure!
Just prepare yourself for the locker room to the water park (no changing stalls, just dress and undress wherever there is space). Males and females were separated, but a different experience nonetheless (especially as people had their phones out).
Likewise, prepare your kids for the height restrictions and take a national friend along to tell you what all those rides were inside buildings. Pretty sure we might've missed some cool stuff. That just gives us something to do next time though right?
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