Waterpark

  We went on an impromptu weekend vacation.  Nothing to fancy. Just wanted to spend time as a family.  Just somewhere out of town to get our minds off of the dramatic life that sometimes surrounds us.  Sometimes I think I get so wrapped up in the everyday bump and grind of life and work, and the electronics, and the drama of other individuals and all the medical research, Dr appts and therapies, that I sometimes forget one of my most important jobs... my kids and husband.
  Friday night I told my husband we were pretending we were rich for the weekend and we were just going to go and have fun and not think about the money.  That's what we did.  At first it took a little bit to figure out what everyone would enjoy and we had to make the most out of our time restraint, and even though we were going to pretend to be rich we still had to be a little realistic.  We took the girls to Soaring Eagle indoor waterpark and hotel.  Somewhat close, somewhat cheap, easy access for wheelchairs, no extreme heat, activities for all ages and sizes.  It was fun.  All of us had a good time.  It was a much needed breath of fresh air.

 

We didn't tell the girls where we were going. After I checked in and gave them the brochure there was so much excitement and happiness. It was so worth waiting to tell them (even though there was a lot of complaining in the car on the way up "Are we there yet?, I'm hungry, I have to pee, I'm bored."  You now the usual stuff kids say that drive parents nuts).

 

Here they wait so patiently for mom and dad to get ready and for their crazy mom to stop taking pictures. 

 

 

 

   The first day we immediately put Sadie in the lazy river.  We thought floating down a river would be relaxing to her.  We were WRONG! She hated every minute of it.  She screamed the entire time and then we put her on the lounge chair where she screamed the rest of the time we were at the park that night.  She did her regular "frog pose temper tantrum".  In hind sight, it was not the lazy river that she hated, it was the life vest that she had to wear.  The lifeguards wouldn't let her in without one on.  You would have thought it was a torture device for her.  The pic below was taken in between screams when it appeared that she was calm.  Looks can be deceiving!

 

 

Many fun things for the girls to do. 

Waterslides!!

 

 

This was the big waterslide.  The one that twirls around outside and then dumps you in the lazy river.  Aubrie was scared to death of this slide from the minute we got there.  We'd ask if she wanted to go on it and she would say "NO WAY"! All of a sudden she grabbed this two person inner tube  and said "lets go Chloe".  And she and Chloe drug this huge tube up 4 stories of stairs and down they came!  I was so proud of her for conquering that fear.  Even though she said she hated it, she went on it a couple more times. ;)  I asked Chloe later when we were alone, if Aubrie freaked out at the top before they came down, she said "yes, but I told there was only one way down and she HAD to go down." Sisterly pressure and love!

 

 

Aubrie wanted to try to include Sadie "all by herself".  We wouldn't let Aubrie do to much with Sadie cause we didn't want any drowning accidents.  But this was one thing that Sadie liked and couldn't drown. 

 

Rocking climbing wall. You climb up and then fall in.  Chloe never made it very far up, but she tried and that's all that counts.  It took her a long time to build up her nerve to do it.

 

 

The big bucket of water would fill and then spill over.  Not sure how much the girls liked that, but at least they participated... once.  Lol

 

Day 2 we started Sadie off by just letting her chillax in the lounge chair.  This was much more her style.  Much more happier then she was on day 1.

 

 

She chilled for a while and then daddy took her in the water sprinklers.

 

 

Wasn't her favorite, but she tolerated it.

 

 

Finally, Sadie's favorite activity. The hot tub!  I think she was suppose to have a life vest on but they either didn't see us or choose not to say anything.  Either way Sadie just relaxed, kicked back and put her legs up.  She cracks me up!

 

 

 

Daddy worked in a very short therapy session where she practiced standing.  Look at that form: straight legs, back and chin up, no arching.  She is working so hard at therapy these days.

 

After the hot tub and "therapy session", it was time for her to eat.  She ate and fell sound asleep.

 

 

Then the ride home.  I'd say it was a pretty successful, fun weekend.