This Easter we are in Germany visiting Aunt Beppy! So, the kids had fun decorating her traditional German Easter tree. We also blew out eggs (made a frittata!) and dyed the shells. Then we decorated them with sparkles and ribbons. This time of year is pretty here with lots of daffodils, tulips and hyacinth bulbs blooming and for sale everywhere!
On Easter morning, the kids woke to find a few things from the easter bunny: a clue to lead them to their treats, and tickets to Phantasialand! Zoe was quick to start the scavenger hunt for her easter basket. The rhyming clues were fun to figure out; it even took her to Bethany’s basement storage unit! She finally found her basket featuring a white chocolate bunny this year. When it was Avi’s turn, his picture clues led him around the apartment. His basket was in the washer!
After some candy for breakfast, we walked to the train station for a quick trip to Phantasialand. This is a great amusement park!! We had a blast riding the rides and exploring. it seemed crowded at times, but lines weren’t long for the kiddo rides we do. Avi’s favorites were the 3-d Chocolate Mouse ride where we rode through a video game shooting mice with chocolate. He also LOVED the Crazy Hotel – it was a classy fun house complete with a final slide out. Lastly, he rode with Bethany twice on the Hollywood tour – its a cheesy, OLD, boat ride through scenes from movies.
Zoe seemed to favor the coasters, as always. She went twice on the dark indoor Temple of the Night Hawk, which is much like Disney’s space mountain, but completely DARK! It turned my stomach, so Bethany rode with her the second time. She also loved the Mountain Train coaster – which Avi also could ride, but hated. It was too much for him… went through a dark tunnel.
After some snacky lunch we decided to chill out watching an ice-skating show, which was wonderful. But, in the middle of it, the power went out and emergency lights came on. We were ushered outside to find the entire park out of electricity! There were people hanging on the super fast coaster…so we were lucky to not be on a ride, or in a claustrophobic line. There was no freaking out, though, but also no public announcements…a lot of people left. We bided some time with a walk around the lake and play in the labyrinth playground.
While in the labyrinth, Avi had to go poo and couldn’t find his way out! I went to the lookout and helped navigate him and then picked him up (assuming he was poo filled and didn’t want to squish it past his undies) and ran to the bathroom quite a distance away. Well, he was surprisingly clean with only a tad on his undies; I let him finish his business, wiped him up, and let him go commando for the rest of the day. Of course, Phantasialand has fancy motion-sensor faucets, but with the power out they wouldn’t work!!! So, that is stupid! I know people don’t like touching a regular public toilet faucet, but better that than not being able to wash hands….ewwww!!
The power came on not long after (and we washed hands), which meant a great evening of rides with fewer people. The park even stayed open an extra hour. The last thing we did was watch the big finale ‘end of the day’ show – which is at dinnertime since the place closes early. Well, this show was goofy! It was like watching amateur hour or something – there were actors half-assed play fighting and then standing around watching some hot men tumble. But, there was little showmanship to it. It was like, a guy would do a trick, and then stand and bow for an applause. Like a talent show or gymnastics recital. Maybe I’m spoiled with all the Korean flare for entertainment, lights, costumes and music, but this was funnily thrown together. All in all, an odd and humorous end to a wonderful day with Bethany and the kids!!
