"I want to be a walking noodle!"

Summer has finally arrived. Alleluia! I had given up. It’s been improving SLOWLY but I can’t remember the last time we went a day without rain. Even yesterday, which was pretty perfect was not without an errant sprinkle. It seems though that everything is coming together – temperature, precipitation, sun. And it only took the entire summer to get there. Ah well.

Yesterday we spent a splendid day at Mont Cascades, a water park that is normally about a half hour from home. It took us over an hour to get there due to construction. The kids were impatient. Daniel was grumpy. All of this made me stressed. Before even leaving home I was dreading it – the crowds, the over-excited out-of-control children and the trifecta, the grumpy husband who forgets what its like to be an excited child.

In the end though we all had fun. The weather was perfect. Not too hot that waiting in endless lines was onerous (and there were endless lines!), not too cool that you were cold when wet. Because of the traffic we didn’t get there until noon and all the picnic tables were taken (people dump their things on a picnic table and take off to enjoy the park.) We found a group (sitting in beach chairs NEXT to their table) that was willing to let us use their table to eat lunch – had a quick picnic lunch, stowed our stuff under another “unused” table and then hit the park. The quote of the day had to be Kamryn who declared “I want to be a walking noodle!” She was referencing the long lines of people obscured by the giant inner tubes they were carrying up the mountain. It really did look like the inner tubes were walking up the mountain unassisted.

Kamryn continues to be a daredevil wanting to try anything and everything which means I have to be a daredevil to as I’m not going to allow my 7 year-old to risk her life unaccompanied (and it seems she always asks it be me that goes with her – flattering but still... The same was true at the fair last week. Oh look another ride that you normally wouldn't be able to drag me on blindfolded and gagged. Yippy!) One of the slides shot you down this tube at breakneck speed, on reaching the bottom you spiral around a bowl until you shoot out the bottom. Its completely disorientating and then you literally SHOOT out the bottom (I expected it to be more of a plop) so you end up at the bottom of a 8 foot deep pool. My first thought on hitting the water was “oh my Lord how did Kamryn handle this?!?” (I had sent her first) My second thought was “I’m about to drown” (I’m not the strongest of swimmers). As I struggled to the edge of the pool the bored and unenthused life guard asked if I was all right. Only my pride, only my pride ... Kamryn didn’t want to go again... Alleluia!

Sam was like barely controlled raw electricity all day but – with fun things to do all around – there were no timeouts so I guess a good day there too. It helped that at 2:30 pm a good 700 patrons piled on to the school busses that had delivered them from various day camps and left. The lines contracted considerably. Even Daniel (yes, even the adult) didn’t have any real tantrums – ‘cept for traffic on the way home, which really was AWFUL (in the end though our GPS saved us). Thanks to traffic we got home much later than we expected and there was dinner to be had (take-out) and showers to be taken (wash off the icky park water). When I climbed into bed at 8, I was weary to the bone. And sore! (the park is on a ski hill; much climbing involved).

Right now – I’m washing swimsuits (was too tired to even think about that last night) so I can put the kids back into them for our own private and much less exciting home water park today. After the jets and shoots of Mont Cascades I’m not sure the sprinkler and kiddy pool will cut it today but it’s all I have on offer. ;)