20 April 2010

Wet Memories

We forgot the camera again.
Not sure how that seems to happen to us so often. The camera seems like such an obvious thing to pack - maybe that is why it gets left behind - so obvious that we do not need to worry about it.
This time the camera missed our mini vacation to Kalahari Water Park in Sandusky. A few years ago we went to Great Wolf Lodge, had a blast, and wanted to try Kalahari this time as it is geared to a little older kid crowd. Too bad our older kids could not make it at the last minute. Lauren and David had to stay at home with the camera.
Neat thing at Kalahari - You can use the water park starting at noon, even though you cannot check into your room until after three. So we pulled our swim suits out of our carefully packed (yeah, right) bags, checked in at the desk to get our blue wristbands, and found our way to the water park.
The place is huge! We passed a candy counter (all candy $20 a pound!), gift shop, little activity shops (stuffed animal making, pottery, hair wrapping, etc), and a cafe. To get to the water park, you must walk through the gi-normus arcade, which I thought our boys would really like. (As it turns out, it cost a dollar just to get the game card you swipe on the machines, and only Colin wanted to go to the arcade, and he only spent $5 - $1 for the card, $4 on a few games.)
Finally made it to the water - the place we had seen fabulous photos of and heard amazing stories about! It was pretty cool in there, in fact it was even a little chilly (after all, we only had our swim suits on and we were wet). Brenden and Colin went off on their own, to try out some swirl slide (think giant toilet and you end up going down the drain) and Liam, Hero and I started at a "warming"pool. Felt great, until you get out - then you freeze. We chose a slide at random and ended up in the line that took almost an hour to get through. On the bright side, while we were waiting, we saw where everything was and where to head next. Hit a few more slides, hopped in the wave pool (a huge Murphy favorite), found Brenden and Colin and relaxed in the hot tub (another favorite).
An early dinner was everyone's vote and we headed to Max and Erma's. While we were enjoying a tropic-like environment (minus the heat), the real weather took a nosedive. It was like 40 - Ugh!
After the yum dinner, everyone got dropped off at the door with all our luggage and we moved in to our home away from home, room 1429. The boys each had their own comfy bed, which they were happy to know they would be allowed to eat in. It was almost hard to leave, but we did get our suits back on to tackle the water park again (except Colin, who headed to the arcade. Later he lamented that he should have gone with us.) And we all ended up in the wave pool and hot tub again.
At home we do not watch much tv. We do not have dish or anything to get extra channels - we just have a few of the basics. Because of this, whenever tv is an option, the boys love to see what they have been missing. We spent the rest of the evening watching something (not sure what - I dozed a lot) and eating treats in bed. (Liam and I did pick up a late night game of Uno).
Breakfast in our room - not room service - $3.99 for a bowl of cereal from the Kalahari chefs! And then back to the pool. We are feeling like pros now. We know right where we want to go. And that attraction was temporarily closed. Rats. So much for the plan. Ok, moving on.
Hero did do the boogie board in the surf pool. Liam and I saw him from the top of a slide. He had to launch himself out on his belly, keep himself somewhat centered (on the board and in the pool) and follow the instructions of the coach to try different tricks. I think he stayed on for about a minute. I think he was pretty pleased with himself.
After playing for a while longer, it was time to think about leaving. We had a great time together as a family, but we all agreed that we could have had just as much fun spending less money. Good bye Kalahari!
As we had not ever been to Sonic, it was voted that was the place for lunch. Have to say, not that impressed. Good to know we have not been missing much. (Sorry to Sonic fans - just not feeling it here.)
And it was on to the next leg of our journey. We headed to Akron to see our good friends, Darryl and Shauna and their family. Had lots of fun visiting and catching up, and Lauren and David surprised us by showing up for dinner.
A great way to end Spring Break. Too bad the camera missed out on all the fun.

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