We headed up late Thursday morning, stopping for lunch along the way. We checked in and headed straight to the waterpark. For Luke, the difference a year made was huge! He was all about the slides. They also changed the height requirements, so the only thing he could not go on was the Tornado (probably the surf board thing too, but we didn't go over there). He was very enthusiastic. First, he tried the baby slides, he just went up and down, probably a hundred times. He was able to stand himself up at the end and was tall enough that he didn't need a flotation device. Then, I asked him if he wanted to try the family raft ride. Last year, we went on it and he hated it! Several times, he would think about going, we'd climb the stairs, and then he'd change his mind. Not this year! We rode that thing repeatedly. Then, we rode the two faster slides. I thought for sure he'd be scared, but he wasn't, not even a little bit. We rode and rode and rode. He still doesn't like the giant bucket, but he was willing to climb the structure to get to the slides up there, although, he didn't like them as much as the tube rides.
So, what were the older kids doing all this time? We have no idea. Like we did last year, we were with a group of friends. There were something like 6 families from our neighborhood who joined us and all the bigger kids just ran off by themselves. Every now and then, we'd spot one racing by and I think they may have occasionally joined us on the family raft ride (one here or there). But, with their friends there, they didn't need us.
We played for almost 4 hours and then realized we needed some dinner. Jack and Anna wanted to go to a sit down restaurant. I was hoping for Olive Garden or Cracker Barrel, but they chose the very fancy Taco Bell. At least it was close. We had our quick dinner, and went to Walmart to pick up some breakfast food. We made it back just in time for story time. Jack and Anna didn't want to see the show or hear the story, so I let them wander the hotel by themselves--in small increments. They had to check in with me every 5 minutes. Luke HATED the lobby and avoided it at all costs. So, Thomas put him to bed while we were gone.
Friday morning, we had donuts, cinnamon rolls and bananas for breakfast and were at the door to the waterpark when it opened at 9. One of Kara's best friends from school was there too! Her parents had texted us to let us know that they were coming up after the girls had mentioned it to each other at school. It was a complete coincidence, and the kids were thrilled. They raced around together all morning. At some point, some of the kids discovered that they went faster on the tornado if they had grown-ups with them, so they would occasionally come find us to ask us to ride. But, mostly it was a repeat of Thursday.
We left at lunchtime so that we could visit the Yorktown Victory Center (which is now called the American Revolutionary War Museum or something). I volunteered to stay in the car with Luke while he napped, and Thomas and three older kids went in. Luke ended up napping for the entire visit. I didn't mind the quiet time and figure we'll make it back there at some point soon. Thomas said the museum was really good. The interior had a good combination of artifacts and text-based information. There were lots of interactive multi-media displays. Additionally, there was a very large outdoor area with an encampment and a colonial farm. There was artillery and demonstrations and lots of reenactors. Everyone enjoyed it. In fact, Thomas and the kids upgraded to an annual pass, knowing that they want to explore more. It is about 2.5 hours away, so it would be a long, but doable day trip. The pass is also good for Jamestown, which everyone enjoys.
We ate dinner at the hotel and had a surprise waiting for us when we got back to the room. One of our friends (who went anonymous, but I'm pretty confident I know who it is) sent the kids a birthday package. There were 6 whoopie pies (delicious!) assorted milks, two t-shirts for the birthday kids, cups, pens, and ice cream coupons. They were thrilled! It was really thoughtful and very appreciated. After that, went back to the water park for a couple of hours. None of our friends were there, so Thomas and I were once again in demand as ride partners.
After we put the kids to bed, I hung out with the ladies for about an hour to celebrate my neighbor Kayce's birthday. There was wine and chocolate and fun conversation. We had a good time chatting and it was a nice way to end the day (as a side-note, I was amazed at how many little kids were still wandering around after 10pm).
Saturday morning, the kids were okay with skipping the waterpark. Instead, we packed everything up and headed to the awesome Air and Space Museum in Hampton. The kids had a great time last year and were anxious to repeat the experience. Fortunately, it did not disappoint. Luke loved the luggage exhibit and the girls enjoyed the giant airplane. Jack and Thomas spent a long time in the NASA simulators, which were new since last year. I tried driving a rover on Mars, but it was hard! We stayed for about 3 hours. Unfortunately, the drive home was long! We were starting at a deficit, since Hampton is about 30 minutes further than Williamsburg, and there was an accident on the freeway, so we took an alternate route with lots of lights and traffic.
After about 30 minutes, we decided to stop at the first fast food restaurant on our side of the road. It ended up being Taco Bell. We hadn't eaten there in years and then wound up twice in a weekend. Then, Luke need a potty break about an hour after that. After that, we had to stop for gas and a bathroom break for the older kids. The final time drain was bridge construction. They had it down to one lane and it took us 1.5 hours to get through. The drive ended up taking close to 5 hours. But, Luke slept for part of it and the kids were good. Still, it was a relief to get home.
I was very remiss in my picture taking, but here are a couple:
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| Luke spent a long time at the museum playing with this. You got to move the planets around and see how their orbits changed. |
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