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We Kicked Our Summer Off with 20-Acres of Water Themed Activities #KDFirstTimer

It’s a long stretch of road between Martinsville and Doswell, Virginia. Our morning began at 6am. Quite incredibly, the kiddos didn’t complain as we woke them from their slumber and directed them to the car. As the sun grew bigger, we listened to Mr. Limoncello’s Library and tried to be patient with Memorial Day weekend traffic in Richmond, Virginia.

Exit 98, signaled we were heading to thrills and relaxation. It’s our exit for Kings Dominion Amusement Park.

kings dominion exit 98

We arrived on International Street at Kings Dominion and stood in awe at the 1/3 to scale Eiffel Tower at the other end.

kings dominion eiffel tower 13 scale

It was Memorial Day weekend and kicking off our holiday was Uncle Sam!

kings dominion uncle sam

 

 

We met local newswoman Candice Smith under the Eiffel Tower!

kings dominion meet and greet under eiffel tower

We walked International Street and said hello to the tree that orbited the moon 34 times.

Kings dominion moon tree

Then, just past Planet Snoopy

kings dominion planet snoopy

And past the Delirium

kings dominion delirium

We arrived at our afternoon destination–20 acres of amazing water-themed activities! We had arrived at Kings Dominion’s Soak City!

kings dominion soak city

We found lounging chairs in the back under giant umbrellas. So. Much. Shade!

The kiddos put on sunscreen–trust us, nothing ruins a great day at the water park like a red sunburn.

kings dominion sunscreen

The kiddos looked at the map to see where their adventure should begin.

kings dominion soak city looking at map

They took off for the lazy river…

kings dominion soak city lazy river

I took my shoes off, kicked back with a frozen pineapple frozen treat

kings dominion pineapple whip frozen treat

I sat back and enjoyed my view, making it my duty to “watch our belongings”, although lockers are available for a small fee.

kings dominion soak city play area

Soak City is an amazing place with water slides, a wave pool, a lazy river, and play areas for little ones. There is something for every level of a thrill-seeker, though most of the rides require participants be 48-inches or taller.

 

My kiddos spent most of their time making friends at Tidal Wave Bay.  It is a great gathering place with the opportunity to swim and ride the waves.

kings dominion soak city pipeline peak

The kiddos found great entertainment in Pipeline Peak—in fact, it was Li’l Man’s favorite adventure at Soak City.

There was plenty of water fun. The kiddos came back twice to reapply sunscreen (every 80-minutes). Each time I listened as they shared adventure after adventure of riding the water slides and daring something new.Kings Dominion soak city playhouse

I was surprised when they told me they were having a blast at the Soak City Playhouse. But oh, my gosh! There was so much fun here, water guns, dumping buckets and so much more! I had a hoot in the playhouse with them.

 

We spent four and a half hours at Soak City. There is plenty of fun to be had. My kiddos would have stayed longer, but we had a surprise for them—

kings dominion camp wilderness

We left Soak City and headed four minutes up the road to the Kings Dominion Wilderness Campground. Here we surprised the kiddos with a stay in their Deluxe Cabin. My kiddos thought it was a tiny house. It was the perfect resting place and we enjoyed two hours of down time. Read about our night in a tiny house at the Amusement Park.

kings dominion deluxe cabins

After dinner, we headed back to Kings Dominion to ride some rides. Admission for BOTH parks is included in the price of admission.

kings dominion Eiffel Tower

My son talked his sister into riding the pirate ship, better known as “the Berserk” that goes upside down. Look at her face to see how that went.

kings dominion off the bezerker

It was a great lesson because here is a picture of Karma at her finest.

kings dominion off the bizerker karma

We thought we were heading out, but we’ve been here before and motion sickness was not going to keep Li’l Man from having the night of his life.

It was worth it.

The Eiffel Tower alone was spectacular. It was lit up and the colors synchronized to the music.

kings dominion eiffel tower at night

The park was decorated for the Memorial Day Celebration. Even the rides were themed with Red, White and Blue!

kings dominion red white and blue for memorial day

There is a lot to be said about Kings Dominion. My husband, who typically, is not an amusement park kinda guy, LOVES this park. He, more than the kids, keeps asking when we can go again.

kings dominion at night

Soak City is open on weekends May 28 – June 10, then daily June 10 – September 5. Admission to Kings Dominion, which as mentioned also gets you into Soak City, is $45 if you buy tickets online, or $66 at the gate. There is also season passes available.

Kings Dominion is located just north of Richmond, and about 75 miles south of Washington, DC.

Put Soak City and Kings Dominion on your Must-Experience this summer. You’ll be glad you did.

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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company in conjunction with Blog Meets Brand, however, all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

About Julee Morrison

Julee Morrison is an author and writer with over 35 years of experience in parenting and family recipes. She’s the author of four cookbooks: The Instant Pot College Cookbook, The How-To Cookbook for Teens, The Complete Cookbook for Teens, and The Complete College Cookbook.Available on Amazon,

Her work has appeared in The LA Times, Disney’s Family Fun Magazine, Bon Appétit, Weight Watchers Magazine, All You, Scholastic Parent & Child, and more.

Her article "My Toddler Stood on Elvis' Grave and Scaled Over Boulders to Get to a Dinosaur" appeared on AP News, and her parenting piece “The Sly Way I Cured My Child's Lying Habit” was featured on PopSugar.

Outside of writing, Julee enjoys baking, reading, collecting crystals, and spending time with her family. You can find more of her work at Mommy’s Memorandum.