A day at the waterpark

Really this post should be titled (or subtitled) "Never Again!!!"

It's funny how things change from one year to the next... Last summer, I made this post about a similar day at the very same waterpark. We had a fabulous time last year... in fact, I think I said in that post that I wanted to LIVE there. Now I'm wondering, "WHAT on Earth was I thinking?!?!?!"

The kids and I headed to the waterpark this morning with high spirits, looking forward to a fun day in the sun. Uh huh.

We got there 30 short minutes after they opened the gates, and the place was already packed... Not a good sign. It didn't take me long at all to grow very tired of the rowdy pre-teens who were splashing around and knocking into me and my little ones... in the wading pool.

It also occurred to me early on that the two measly lifeguards were not nearly enough for the number of people IN this huge wading pool. Both lifeguards had their eyes glued on the little slide doohickie in the middle of the pool... so if your child was sliding all day, then MAYBE he/she was relatively safe under their watchful eyes. But forget it if your child was anywhere ELSE in the pool.

So, I was a little bit paranoid about letting either of my children out of my sight all day... even though the water is only 1.5 feet deep. But, keeping Avery and Damon both by my side in the pool was NOT an easy task. They, of course, wanted to go in totally opposite directions the whole time. I guess last year Avery was small enough to dutifully march beside me with no complaint... NOT the case this year, unfortunately.

I really could go on and on with complaints about our day and the way this waterpark is run... but I'll spare you.

After 3 hours of F-U-N, I broke my kids' hearts and told them it was time to go. Not a moment too soon... by the time we were 2 miles away, the skies opened up and we had one heckuva storm (that eased my guilt just a little!).

Also on the way home, Damon said, "Thanks, Mom, for taking us there today. I had a good time!" Okay, so that almost made it worth the headache, a day of missed work, and my horrible sunburn... almost. But, I'm still thinking "never again!"