Kalahari!

This week we went on a mini-vacation to Sandusky, Ohio, where we stayed (and played) at the Kalahari indoor water park. Of course we went during the week, when crowds were thin (good choice!!!) and (also of course) when we got a deal on the room.

It was a great vacation. While the weather turned bitter cold outside, it was a steady 85 degrees in the waterpark. And there was plenty to do there, too, so we never left the building (except when we went in the indoor/outdoor hottub).

We didn't get to enjoy the waterslides like we (adults) would have liked, because, well, we couldn't exactly tell the boys, "Don't drown; we'll be back in a few minutes." But we took turns going off and riding waterslides while the other watched the boys.

One of the cool things was that once you were in, everything was included. You didn't have to schlep your towels from the hotel; there was a steady supply of warm, clean towels available. You didn't have to "rent" innertubes for play or slides: they were all available. And they even had life jackets for the boys to wear, again, included in admission.

We enjoyed the lazy river and the wave pool (we spent a lot of time at the wave pool - Andrew mostly spent his time flirting with the girls - ones his age as well as lifeguards). Jonathan loved playing in the water, and as the days went on, he got braver and braver regarding the waves.

The boys' favorite part, by far, was the kiddie pool. It had several "animals" (all of which squirted water) and two "safari cars" which had slides (which Jonathan loved and Andrew liked for a while), tunnels (which Jonathan loved), and steering wheels (which both boys loved - I think Andrew would have just stayed up there turning the steering wheels all day had we let him).

There was also a wonderful (not water) play area with tunnels, slides, foam balls - think McDonalds Playland on serious steroids. Jonathan and I went in there and played for quite a while when Andrew was (supposed to be) taking his nap. It was fun (even for me - though I wouldn't have had much fun in there without the boy!!!).

We brought all our own food - conveniently, the hotel room had a microwave and a fridge, so we could eat there; we spent a lot of time walking between the room and the waterpark - down the hall, take the elevator one floor (OK, we could have taken the stairs, but Andrew is really slow on the stairs, and besides, if we had taken the stairs, we wouldn't have gotten to have the experience of having Andrew push the emergency phone button in the elevator).

It was a great trip, and we had a wonderful time.