Splish Splash, We Had a Blast!

I apologize in advance for any typos or format errors - I'm typing this on my tablet with the keyboard attachment =)

Yesterday we crossed an item off my summer bucket list and took Jay to our local stateline waterpark for the 1st time! There was a Groupon for our area a few weeks ago for 2 admissions with tube rental and an all day locker key so we thought it would be fun. We didn't read the fine print til after we purchased it though and saw that it was only valid for June so we needed to get our butts out there sometime soon! Hubby took a half day at his dayjob, getting home a little after 1pm and we got there right at 2pm.

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures as I didn't want water damage to my phone (neither did hubby with his), so you'll just have to use your imagination as you read my recount =)

Anyways, Jay was apparently free as they didn't charge us for him. They did give us this little plastic reuseable diaper thing to put over his Huggie's Little Swimmers swim diaper as they claim those tend to disinagrate in their pools.

First we got our locker and put sunscreen on and then we headed over to the Little Lagoon pool and water area they had for kids Jay's size. He walked into it just fine but got a little nervous once the water went up past his knees and started getting clingy to mommy and started crying when he would fall on his bottom and the water was up to his chest. He played with the water stream shooters for a bit before we decided to go check out the lazy river.

He rode in my lap but at first started getting antsy, climbing all over me, almost tipping us over once by trying to climb over my shoulder. Daddy picked him up and my tube started floating away which made Jay freak out - mommy was going bubbyes! Hubby handed him back to me and he sat in my lap for the rest of that trip around as well as another trip around.

After that we got out, we checked out Tiki Island (a water playground for grade-school aged kids) and then we went and sat in the shallow end of the wave pool (apparently the largest one in Illinois!) as the waves started up. We stayed in for a whole cycle, but Jay wasn't a fan once the waves picked up and spent most of the cycle standing in my lap, his head over my shoulder, clinging to me.

For whatever reason he didn't want Daddy to carry him - he wanted only Mommy :-/

After the wave pool, hubby declared he really wanted to ride one of the water slides before we left so I told him to go ahead - I'd take Jay back to the nearby Little Lagoon. Instead we sat on benches at the exit of the water slide hubby was in line for and watched people make big splashes as they came off the slide - Jay thought some were funny.

Next we tried the Little Lagoon again. Jay got a little braver, I sat in the pool with him and he played with some water bubbler things in the water near me before he wanted me to pick him up again.

We figured we'd try the lazy river again but on our way out hubby mentioned wanting to do the water slide again so I told him to go ahead and I'd occupy Jay. We went to go sit down on the benches by the slide exit again but Jay wanted down, so I let him roam, following him as he went.

That little stinker, he started walking towards a picnic area! Luckily there was no one eating for him to beg for food from (all our money was in the locker and hubby had the key on him and he was in line at the top of a water slide). Jay did stop at a bottled drink vending machine though and started hitting the buttons trying to get a drink to come out.

Thinking he might be thirsty, we set out to find a drinking fountain, which was a whole new experience for Jay - first he put his arm in it, then he splashed his hand it and I had to push his head/mouth towards the spout so he'd get the idea to drink. Then he realized if he put his mouth closer to the spout he could drink more at once... And you can guess that that led to him trying to put his mouth on the spout.

After he got a drink we headed back towards the slide exit to wait for hubby. He was still in line so we waited. Jay saw some kids playing in a water sprayer nearby that you operate by pressing buttons so we watched them for a bit and I let Jay down to go check them out. Hubby made a big splash again and joined us as Jay played with the sprayers.

Then we walked over to the lazy river. And once again, Jay tried climbing all over me but once Daddy took him away from mommy and handed him back to me Jay was fine. By the end of the 1st trip around Jay had snuggled up on me and fell asleep (it was naptime anyway). Hubby and I took 4 more trips around the lazy river, Jay sleeping the whole time, before it was getting to be time to leave (they had announced it was 5pm soon after we started our last trip around the lazy river).

We woke Jay up as we left the lazy river and got our stuff and trekked back out to the car. We stopped at Beef A Roo on our way home (a local area burger joint with the best cheddar fries EVER!) and got some cheddar fries and a strawberry milkshake.

We got a large shake as hubby and I were going to split it and figured Jay would have some... Jay ended up drinking 1/3rd of the shake! And because he was hogging it, I ended up putting some in one of his own cups, some hubby and I could drink some, lol...

So yeah, that was our trip to the waterpark!

Hubby thinks Jay might have been a little scared as it was a new place he'd never been to before and there were a lot of people too - he loves bathtime at home in the big tub, but again, it's just him in the tub and no one else. We're thinking maybe we'll go again in August as he'll be 1 and a half then and maybe 2 months will make a difference and he won't be quite so clingy and nervous and have a bit more fun.

This was actually hubby's 1st time there too! Apparently he never went as a kid or during any of the church youth group trips there back in the day. He seemed to enjoy it! I hadn't been in probably 10 years or so - we used to go at least once a summer when I was a kid. Things changed a little bit, new (and more) slides were added as well as the 2 kiddie zones, but it was still familiar.

Oh and Dippin' Dots - "the ice cream of the future" - is still there! I remember being a kid in the early 90s and how cool I thought it was that they were serving the ice cream of the future and just had to try it! And I remember telling my parents all about it and how it was "THE ice cream of the future!" Yeah, that was like 20 years ago... We're still eating the same ol' ice cream we were back then, lol...