Best Place in the Whole World!*

*as Livi said, over and over.

Wednesday afternoon, when I realized that John was going to be home at a reasonable time, and that he had the next day OFF, I made reservations for that night at Key Lime Cove (using the Memorial corporate discount and the regular weekday discount made it quite the deal--I love deals.) We told Olivia it was for her birthday.
The decor at Key Lime Cove is very. . . um . . . tropical. One might go so far as to say garishly tropical. (Think of a Caribbean-themed Las Vegas casino, minus the gambling, drinking, and smoking.) But to the girls, it was "beautiful." So beautiful that it makes us look a little bit manic.Considering my previous water park experiences have all been outdoors, I wasn't expecting that something indoors could compete, but this was pretty darn fun. Olivia was tall enough to try everything except (what she and her dad termed) "the slide of death." This was the baby pool. Awesome, eh?And more baby pool. I deliberately made all the pictures a little blurry so my blog readers could get a sense of the frenetic pace and excitement we were living. :)This was the "slide of death." I thought it looked a little more like a "toilet of death," but it was my favorite slide there. (Although this picture is of John. I like a little scandal in my life, but me wearing that swimsuit might have generated just a pinch too much.) And a shot of the top of his head as he was flushed down the hole. At first, Annabel was content only when snuggled up and riding around and around the lazy river. There's only so much of that a parent can take, however, so we were grateful that after her nap she was delighted to splash and play in the baby pool. (Until we discovered that were going to spend the entire time keeping her from drinking out of the little fountains and chewing on the tiled stairs. YUCK!)And this shot is purely gratuitous because I think that baby in a swimsuit is the loveliest, most kissable thing I've ever seen.When we got sick of swimming (as if we ever could), they had cookie decorating and princess picture coloring in a little kids' art center. The children had to be dragged from the park and wrapped thoroughly in towels. They crashed and snoozed all the way home (through Chicago traffic, even, which made the trip 300 times longer). It was so much fun, and I learned several things:
1) There is, apparently, a shortage of swimsuit fabric in the world. Since I own two, full, one-piece suits, I am probably hoarding more than my fair share. I didn't realize I was being so selfish. (Alternate lesson #1: There is only one size of string bikini, and that one size can fit any person, no matter how large.)
2) Tattoos are infintely interesting to children. We can talk about tattoos all day long. Especially when we are surrounded by tattoos all day long.
3) I get seasick. I won't be signing up to sail around the world anytime soon, considering that twice around the lazy river can just about do me in.
4) Watching your kids experience something for the first time is like seeing it for the first time yourself. Fantastic.
Who's up to join us next time?