LIDO is an outdoor amusement park that has rides similar to a carnival in the states, bounce houses, bungee trampoline, pedaling go carts, a playground and a large log cabin building that holds several different restaurants. We took an electric tram to get there and the ride was about 20 minutes or so.
We got off at the LIDO stop and looked around but didn't see this big place we pictured from their website. Andris looked around a corner and said "there it is!" and took off at a fast pace down the street. He was so excited. This was one of the few places that he's been really looking forward to visiting.
Once we were there we played really hard for 3-4 hours. Swings, Tower ride, bungee trampoline, peddling go carts, bounce houses galore, soft cannon ball games, and this really weirdly cool bubble thing that would never be allowed in the States.
We had a buffet lunch or dinner, can't remember the time we ate and went back for a couple last minute jumps and bean bag throws.
Another day we went to the largest water park in Latvia called Livu Akvaparks. This was THE PLACE Andris has been talking about since we picked him up and past it on our way home from the Children's Home on the 12th. He had hyped it to the kids, so all they talked about for days was going to this water park. Well, the day had finally arrived and so did we. After getting our wristbands and paying to enter, we walked up this wooden floor with the walls decorated like we were walking under the ocean. It was cool. Then we entered the locker room area. At first I was horrified because men and women and children were all in there together. I thought I saw people changing right out in the open, but here all the men and boys pretty much just wear speedos, so they still had their bathing suits on. Whew. Okay - so then we got a locker, put our stuff inside, had to rinse off in a shower and entered the water park. Wow. There was so much going on that Scott and I had no idea where we could have our "home base." Andris and Emma just took off down a slide that who knows where it comes out and if it's scary or not. Jack hopped the side of what looked like a lazy river moving at a fast pace and sunk to the bottom and was pushed down a little ways before coming back up again. I grabbed his arm and pulled him out and then we went around the corner and yelled to Emma and Andris to come back upstairs so we could get a lay of the land before we let them loose. There were pretty much zero safety measures. I think the thought process there is to just use your brain. That would be nice if people actually did. The water depth was in meters and there were only pictures for signs telling you where the slides were, but not where the come out. This place has a ton of floors and stairs, but who knows where you'll end up once you come out at the bottom. And no, not all the slides went down to the lower floor. Some were outside, some started on the main floor, or three to four stories up. I was trying to pair up the kids, but some rides were too big and the ones that could go down did, leaving the smaller ones behind to climb back down and look for them. Ugh. What a safety nightmare. After a couple hours, I felt better about the whole place but man, I guess I'm so used to rules all the time when you go to a public place that this seemed out of control.
Oh, I forgot to add one thing: the photographers. Yes, there were a bunch of cameramen walking around taking pictures so that you could purchase these at the end of your visit. They were very annoying. This will be the closest I'll ever get to experiencing paparazzi. They took pictures of you all the time, everywhere and right in front of you too. Snap Snap Snap. I was hoping to get a family picture of all of us in the "lazy river" but just because they take a ton of pictures, doesn't mean they are good ones. Bummer.
A funny story, that may just be funny to me, was the first time Scott and I were with Annie, Leah and Emma in the lazy river. Annie had a tube around her and Leah had an inflatable "life jacket" on and Scott and I were just holding on to them while we were being flung down the river. Annie was saying "this is the best day of my life and I just love this place so much!" when SMACK! The plastic flaps that separate the outside portion of the river with the inside hit her upside her head. I bust out laughing. And laughing. And laughing some more. I'm laughing so much that tears are coming to my eyes and Annie & Emma ask if I was hurt. I couldn't stop. Thankfully, Annie wasn't hurt or upset about the flaps otherwise I would have felt bad after I stopped laughing. After writing that, it's still funny. :)
We stayed for about 5 hours or so and everyone had a wonderful time there. Everyone was very adventurous, especially Jack who managed to try most of the slides even though he didn't meet the height requirements. One slide was pretty much a straight drop! We did have to take most of the next day off to lay around the house and nap because we were so exhausted. That was nice too.
Yesterday we went to Jurmala. This is a pretty village on the Baltic Sea. We walked down the touristy street called Jomas Iela and kept an eye out for possible souvenirs. About halfway down the street we stumbled on BUMPER CARS and enjoyed "bumping" each other (gently, of course!). We found our way at the end of the street and walked to an awesome climbing park. We spent a long time there until Andris' flip flop broke and decided to go back to the shops to buy him a new pair. For a fairly large seaside village, it was pretty surprising that countless stores didn't sell flip flops or any other casual shoe for a teenager. Wish we would have known that BEFORE checking so many stores! That's okay, we'll get him something at the mall or another store closer to our apartment. After the shoe hunting, we ate dinner and went home due to bad weather, promising to return so we can see the Baltic Sea up close.
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