kennywood 2008

yesterday.. it all worked out perfectly for my family to go to kennywood !! i even got off work early to go with them.. which was AWESOME !! we had such an awesome time.. the weather was beautiful.. the longest we had to wait in a line was 20 minutes.. and they were giving away a whole ton of free stuff !! we ate tons of free food.. got free t-shirts.. free washington wildthings tickets.. it rocked.. :)

okay now seriously.. ANY amusement park with a statue of an alien taking a picture ROCKS in my book :)

ellen.. amy.. mom.. and ruby on the log jammer..

emma and steve.. aren't they cute?

steve and ruby in kiddieland !! brave souls rode in the front seats of the lil phantom :)

the phantom's revenge.. the fastest 2 minutes you'll ever live thru..

the sky coaster !! this is the BEST ride at kennywood.. we didn't do it.. but oh do i wish we could have..

my handsome stuff..

here's how this worked out: mom and emma.. me and steve got in line to ride the racers.. and when we got up to the front of the line.. the dude goes "i need to check his height" well.. i'm assuming my mom already did at the beginning of the ride so i'm like "sure" ha.. turns out poor steve is like 2 inches too short.. and mom just assumed he was big enough.. so we couldn't ride.. instead.. we hopped over into the jack rabbit line.. and we were in line so perfectly.. that steve and i got to ride in the front car !! oh yeahhhh..

arrow 360*.. rocks all around..

one of the best wooden coaster rides in the world..

haha this ride is crazy.. its not all that scary or even fast.. but its in the dark.. so i always scream like the whole ride.. lol

the pittsburgh plunge..

.. which i was able to catch a rainbow off of !! yay

i forget what this is called.. swing-shot ? idk.. its a sweet ride too..

my favorite spot in the whole park.. well.. one of them :)

yeah.. you pretty much can't get fries like these anywhere else..

cotton candy.. another amusement park MUST..

i think this ranks as one of my favorite pictures ever.. if you click on the photo it'll come up bigger.. and you can actually see how half of the people have their hands up -- perfectly silhouetted against the sunset.. i love it !!

then night time comes.. and they turn on all the lights..

i was so mad that this turned out blurry.. just another reason i want to get a camera withOUT the automatic focus.. >.< but you get the idea anyway.. they're adorable.. and yes.. ruby's glasses ARE on upside down :) that's what makes it so cute !!

garfield's nightmare ride..

haha this is the BEST and ONLY way to play games.. when you play against your own siblings :) someone is GUARANTEED a win !!

i think i like kennywood better at night than during the day :)

the VERY famous cowboy joe.. i'm not sure where amy and emma were when we took this picture ??

i think.. as soon as they turned the lights on.. i could've just forgotten the rides and taken pictures and been PERFECTLY content.. yeah..

61st annual eichelberger family reunion

saturday.. june 21, 2008 marked our 61st annual eichelberger/claybaugh family reunion..

to kick the event off.. stephen had malachi over for their first sleepover.. hehe they're so adorable !!

anyway.. after unloading the table and chairs into the garage.. daddy took us all for a ride around the yard in the blue truck..

yes.. dogs too :)

everyone piling onto the lift to get off..

stephen and mal.. awwww..

don't forget about nate !! wow he looks like his dad !!

anyway.. the rest of the morning was spent getting ready.. zeb set up the volleyball net..

nate and i played some frisbee.. this little guy is really good !

daddy and zeb played the more "advanced" version.. with a normal frisbee.. lol while nate and i used the big soft frisbee :)

the president of the reunion.. don't mess with him.. or his dog :)

one of the faithful parking attendants..

our grillers..

the eichelberger cousins singing the "eichelberger reunion song" written a few years ago by ellen.. who has now retired from the singing :)

the president.. chowing down at the little kids table.. hehe

there was a lot of amazing food.. too much in fact.. lol

if you ever need a number guessed? ellen.. the one in the dark blue shirt is the one to go to.. she won BOTH candy jars >.< i say she cheated..

ruby-do..

part of the cousins.. ruby.. malachi.. stephen.. nate.. emma.. lydia.. and karleigh..

these folks talking to my grandpa have been coming to the reunion for as long as i remember.. and i still have no clue who they are =X

aunt dawn and eli..

after the family portrait.. the kids played games (which SOMEHOW.. ellen and i got volunteered to do next year.. what the heck?)

poor lyd.. she made such a valiant effort.. :)

hehe this was after my mom dumped a cup of water all over my dad.. she's the one who started it all.. then it turned into a huge free-for-all.. who could get my dad "the president" the most wet?

my handsome stuff..

ellen and aunt nellie..

haha malachi passed out on the ground.. basically we all felt like this by the end of the night..

then ruby decided to show off her somersault skills..

hehe after a while.. daddy finally disappeared into the safety of the garage.. so they all decided to gang up on aunt dawn.. hehe then daddy came out and made a show of handing her his belt to go after them with :)

ruby: our water balloon inspector :)

haha but the battle to get my father wet had only begun :)

even his own son joined in !

that's about when daddy got sick of only using water balloons to fight back and just decided to use the hose.. o.O

but.. it was a gorgeous day.. and we all had a good time watching the little kids try to get my dad wet :)