Family Shenanigans: Double, Triple, Five-duple the Fun!

For a good time, just add water...
This month's Family Shenanigans comes to you fresh from our weekend away. Enjoy!

It began like most of our trips do, an hour late. But that was okay; we knew we had a whole weekend to be together as a family, and starting it off in a fit of huffs and growls didn’t seem the way to go.

Our fivesome traveled for about 2 ½ hours before stopping at ye ol’ convenient store for an icee/cold carbonated beverage break. Danny (my darling spouse) decided it’d be best to place said massive cups of cold caffeine on the roof of the car before opening the door (the rest of us were inside). Well, if you know about the Prius and it’s curved roof, the laws of gravity, and irony- then you know, both cups tipped and spilled their contents down the windshield of our freshly washed car.

We drove another hour or so before finally arriving at the Double JJ Resort. I still can’t decide if this means: double jay jay resort or jay jay resort, as in- we have two J’s, therefore we’re the Double J, but it doesn’t say Double J Resort- it says Double JJ, so is it Double Jay Jay Jay Jay? Nevermind. We were there, finally- and with just enough time to hurry through a diaper change for the girls and get everyone to the bathroom and back into the car where we’d bundle up and catch our scheduled “sleigh” ride. Note: we haven’t seen our lawn since January. Then, the weekend we leave for this trip? The great February thaw. By the time we arrived at our destination the snow was patchy at best. So, our sleigh was a wagon, but it still had horses and it was still mighty cold.

Picture it—barren trees, closed buildings, dead grass, and mud puddles. Without the thin layer of snow to leave something to the imagination-, the naked landscape was not enticing, so much so, we opted out of our 2nd night sleigh ride.

By then, we were famished and cold, and frankly, the spaghetti couldn’t have tasted any better. A black and white John Wayne movie played behind us and my kids were mesmerized—I don’t think they’d ever seen a real cowboy movie before. It was a silent meal, and we all ate well.

Fully stuffed, we headed for the yin and yang of the water park universe. I have to say, even though it’s a smaller water park- it still feels big in there. And I’m glad it wasn’t any bigger- the deafening cacophony when you first walk in sounds the same no matter how big a water park it is.

My daughters came out of the bathrooms tickled that they now had “boobies”- their floaty vests gave them little baby racks- sort of- and in their eyes, they were just like Mommy now, and said so, aloud. But my enthusiastic girls became fast skeptics about the amount of fun to be had in the chilly water. Granted, it had to be at least 80 or 82 degrees in there (the water that is, the air was much warmer) but it felt cold coming in and out of it- and their teeth started chattering right away. And there seemed to be no end to the ways that we could be prey to the hunters wanting to surprise us with blasts of water.

It seemed my decision to sport a skirted swimsuit was on par with the other moms there, in fact, it was rare not to see a skirted suit (especially a skirted suit with a plunging v-neck). Lands End would do well to sponsor that water park. I felt like I was browsing through the catalog, only the models looked very different.

My son LOVED the water park, but he’s at the perfect age for it. He’s just big enough to ride all the big tube rides, the place seemed immense to him, and he got to be pseudo-independent. It was a sure fire recipe for fun for him. He didn’t even care if his lips were blue or if he had chill bumps on his arms that looked like the Rockies.

After a crash course in how to keep your clothes dry, kids from slipping, and getting dressed (without your kids unlocking the door to your stall) in the family changing room, we headed back to our room for bed.

It was an experiment for us. After much toddler juggling and room arranging, we finally settled into our beds and drifted off… most of us that is…I’d had far too much caffeine so I became the sleep watchgirl. Daughter hanging a leg over the bed rail again? Flop it back to the other side. Son about to cry at full volume because he’s thirsty again? Shush him quickly, then get him a drink in the dark.

It went fine until 10pm. That’s when our next-door hotel room neighbors came home. By the sound of it, they had children as small as ours and instead of quietly slipping them into bed- SpongeBob came blaring through the wall and the children (clearly exhausted and unhappy) began wailing and shrieking.

The next day involved more water park time, more eating, some attempted napping, and…my son’s new favorite activity--- TUBING! He had a blast. There was just enough snow on the property, seemingly scraped from every spare acre, to create this sad, melting, icy leftover called the tubing hill. I took a few turns (at my son’s begging request) and felt like I’d been spanked and frankly, was a bit fearful of what would happen if one of my knees or ankles met with one of those ice-capped bumpers dividing my lane from the others. So, I played childcare volunteer and let my son keep sliding with Danny.

We had a pretty good time and I think our family will head back there again, though better prepared next time (I’ll have my water park bag streamlined). I also won’t be leaving my swimsuit on the heater to dry it- since now my suit bears those fashionable burn-out stripes along its hem.

And of course, the trip wouldn’t have been complete without getting to drive home through a winter storm replete with ice, freezing rain, hail, slush, and snow. Nothing makes the long drive home longer, than getting to drive through all that at 40 miles per hour.

Thus ends our weekend shenanigans. Stay tuned, the shenanigans will continue as birthday season approaches.