Splash Down - Take Two

A large vacation was not an ideal option for our family this year. Logistically, financially, and time-wise, we had limitations that deterred us from our traditional several day trip that we usually take. However, we decided to do a couple day trips instead to still have an extra dose of summer fun. I posted about our experience at the "beach" at Lake Anna a few weeks ago, and this past Thursday we went to Splash Down Waterpark in Manassas. 

We tried Splash Down last year and enjoyed it, but I wasn't sure it was doable this year with three babies. My sister agreed to go with us though, so we put in the extra effort and gave it a go so the kids could do something special.

Everyone warmed up to the water in the zero-entry pool near the lazy river. Caleb and Hadley didn't hesitate to jump right in, but Reid wasn't as excited. He wasn't upset, but he wasn't particularly thrilled either. I guess if someone rubbed sunscreen all over my bald head and plopped me in some cool water I might not be too over the top about the experience either. He did explore his surroundings some though, hang with us while his older siblings had a blast.

Hadley met another little girl who kind of palled around with her finding leaves in the water.

After a bit, Aunt Courtney and Caleb decided to take a couple laps around the lazy river.

Hadley didn't seem to notice her older brother was missing. She just splashed about to her heart's content until he came back.

Since there wasn't a whole lot to do in that section, we quickly headed over to the preschool area where Caleb and Hadley found the slides.

Reid was pretty mellow most of the trip. This wasn't the best excursion for him, but he seemed to do pretty good just hanging out with his dad.

Last year we packed our lunch and ate at a picnic shelter at a nearby park that was within walking distance. However, by the time we got everyone together, got our hands stamped, went all the way to the car then back to the shelter, ate, and put it all away, it ate up quite a bit of our time. Plus, we noticed that the food inside the park wasn't THAT expensive compared to other theme parks. That said, we decided just to buy some grub there this year which worked out great. The kids got to keep playing while I ordered and waited on the pizza and we didn't have to lug as much stuff.

Before getting back in the water, I suggested checking out a sandy area that I noticed while we were eating lunch. I thought we'd just play for a few minutes and the kids would easily tire of it and want to get back to the water, but I was wrong. They loved it! Actually, I think Reid preferred the sand to the water. The only problem was that, not long after we arrived, a lot of bigger kids showed up too. They didn't seem to be well supervised, so I think they were with one of the many day camp group there that day. They weren't really doing anything wrong, but they were rambunctious in their play which made us uncomfortable, especially after a couple of them fell on Caleb when they were wrestling. It didn't take too much coercing to get our kids back to the water slides though; we just shifted our group that way.

Reid, who was on the go crawling through the sand, face planted at one point and just kept on going. Courtney and I were more worked up about it than he was. We kept trying to clean his face and he was like "Leave me alone and let me play!"

Hadley got her turn to go around the lazy river with Aunt Courtney...

...but Caleb was ready for some bigger and better things. We tried the lily pad obstacle course they signs said he was tall enough for, but he was too short to reach the ropes overhead. However, when a couple of the lifeguards told us he was big enough to do some of the bigger slides, Caleb was eager to try one out. Courtney and I waited forever at the bottom while he and his daddy braved the long line at the top. Finally, out popped that little fella - all smiles!

Daddy was pretty smiley too.

While we were waiting, Hadley was pretty upset that she couldn't go down the big slide too, unable to understand she wasn't tall enough. When Caleb asked for Dave to take him for another go, Courtney and I took her back to the little kid section, hoping she'd be satisfied with the smaller slides. Sadly though, she was just irritable. Things began to get a little sticky at this point because Courtney had to leave. Since Reid had fallen asleep on me while we were waiting for Caleb to come down the slide earlier, I laid him down on a beach blanket to finish out his nap. However, I still had Miss Priss to occupy and keep nearby all while keeping her mind off the fact that she couldn't do the big slide. Bottom line, I ended up buying her some Dippin Dots ice cream to keep her content and still until Reid woke up. Do what ya gotta do! Thankfully it worked.

Dave took them for one more short go around at the little kid section when he got back, but we were all wore out at that point. The older two were overdue for naps and I was needing a rest myself.

Caleb has continued to talk about the excitement of our trip for days. That night when we got home he told me he couldn't sleep because he just kept thinking about that big slide. Saturday night he woke up at like 4 a.m. and the first thing he said when I walked in his room was that he couldn't get that slide off his mind. It was a lot of excitement for a little fella. I think this park will just get even more fun for us as the kids grow.