Monday, July 28, 2008

H2O Oasis Revisited

If you are an avid reader of this blog, you might recall that Bentley visited H2O Oasis (an indoor water park) in the spring with his friend Daniel. (Their mothers were, of course, with them.) Daniel had been to the water park a few times before and he loves playing there. Bentley did not like H20 Oasis. He clung to his mother like a limpet and would not let his dainty little feet touch the water. He did not have a good time.

Not to be daunted by her son's negative attitude, Kara decided we should go back again with all the kidlets. We first attempted this in early May. It was a bust. The park was way too busy so we didn't pay to go in. We settled for play time in our hot tub. I wrote a blog entry about it and included some great photos.

There are no photos to record our time at H2O Oasis today. It's not the kind of place you'd take a camera. Water, water, everywhere. I had the silly notion that I might be able to keep my hair dry. HUH!? What was I thinking? (I saw a couple moms who accomplished that feat, but they had older children and stayed to the edge of the play area.)

Kara, I, Bentley, and the twins met Maria, Daniel, and David there. Daniel immediately climbed up on the pirate ship and played under a leaking keg for a good twenty minutes. He totally enjoyed having water pour on his head. Not so Bentley. Bentley didn't cling to Kara or I, but he wasn't into getting wet either.

Over the next half hour he started getting more adventurous. By the time we left an hour and half later, he was having a grand time. He and Daniel were racing up the steps of the pirate ship and then taking turns sliding down the water slide. Occasionally Bentley would take a face full of water, but it didn't upset him. At one point he was prepared to go down the big slide on the pirate ship, but a line starting forming behind him so he opted out. A little while later he tried to talk Daniel into going down the big slide, but Daniel vetoed that idea.

Last time Bentley visited the water park he didn't take his water shoes. This time he not only had water shoes, he had a special water t-shirt. I and Kara think both these items contributed to his comfort and ability to have fun. Although, he did now and again complain to us about his water shoes. He'd hold up his foot and protest that his shoes were wet--a stream of water poured out of them. Go figure!

How did the twins like the water park? Viva, as I expected, found it somewhat entertaining. She enjoyed walking around, clinging to the rope fence, and watching the other kids play. Jake, as I expected, was not too happy about the entire adventure. I took him down a short slide with me, but he hated it so much that he wanted nothing to do with me for the rest of our time at the water park. (This is highly unusual--he's quite the Grandma's boy!) Jake made lots of unhappy faces. Maybe, like his older brother, his second visit will be loads of fun?

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