Megan

Megan was not really into swimming.  At first she hated her PFD-life jacket is outdated-and she was afraid of the water.  She did not like all the splashing and noise.

By Wednesday though, she was doing a lot better. We found a little pool that she and Adrian could play in. She did not do much, just touch the water and walk a very little bit.  She loved the swings, which I never got a picture of 🙁 .

She enjoyed-sort of- Lazy River, as long as her face did not get wet.  But her favorite thing was just watching everyone else have fun.

Date Night

On Thursday, Allan and I had “date night”.  Allan took all of us out for dinner and then he and I spent some alone time together.  He asked me what I wanted and I mentioned that Mark  had pointed out something that looked really good.  There were other nice looking treats, but this one was different than anything I remember getting before.

So Allan went and bought this Tiramisu for me. It was really good–yes, I did let Mark get up and have a taste. The bowl was chocolate and the inside had cake (?) on the bottom and cream something on the top.  He also got me a Mango Colada which is like a Pina Colada, but made with mango instead of pineapple.

We sat around talking and just enjoying our evening. It was quiet and relaxing and we went to bed way too late. But, it was one of the nicest evenings we have had in a long time.  Allan is really good at spoiling me.  I have no doubt in my mind that he loves me very much!

Watching Patiently

One thing we did a lot of at the Kalihari was watching.  Adrian could not play in his section by himself, so he often had to watch the “big kids do big kid things”.  Most of the time he was very patient.

Some times, one of the older kids would have to wait their turn. If all the kids wanted the same ride with Daddy, one of them would have to wait, because no ride was for more than four at a time.

Just for fun, I found this old picture of the girls and Adrian watching the “big kids” from when we went to the Kalahari with cousins in 2009.  Adrian has grown up quite a bit in three years!

School Thursday–The Art of Persuasion

The first few days at the water park, Megan wanted MOMMA! She would fuss and cry unless she was very close (usually being held) by me.  I am not to fussy about most of the rides, so I was happy not to go on many. By Wednesday evening she was doing lots better, and Thursday, she was content to just be somewhere around us.

On Thursday, the kids started asking me to go with them.  “Come on Momma, it’s fun!”  “The only scary part is when you look down, and you can’t see without your glasses!”  “It’s dark most of the way, you won’t see anything.”

I raced the kids on the Cheetah race.  I yelled my way down the Swahili Swirl. Then Allan had the older kids watch Megan and he took me on the tube race.  They were not bad.  I would only do a few at time before saying that was good for now.

There were two other rides the kids thought I would like, but unfortunetly, we ran out of time. 🙂

 

 

What Megan Learned

Sometimes, Megan grows quickly. She experiments a lot and begins to do a lot of  new things in a short amount of space.

This last week was an example.  She discovered new uses for bowls, how to get into the sugar bowl, that chocolate frosting tastes better than the cookie, green sugar crystal suckers are delicious, that sticking your tongue out for pictures causes adults to stop and say “how cute” and many other useful things.

Waterfall

One of Mark’s favorite “little kid” places was the waterfall.  A bucket would fill with water, the chimes would begin, and before long LOTS of water would come down. Water would come down from all around the “tree house”, but most would fall in the front.

One day, the bigger kids were all waiting for the bucket to dump.  Adrian, unaware, was playing by himself off to the side.  When the bucket dumped, he was caught under the waterfall and ran out, “quick as lightening.”

Allan’s board

Allan tried not to work much  this last week.  He was able to play with the kids and take them on the “big kid” rides.

He decided to do the boogie board and it was exciting watching him.  There were a few guys sitting around watching.  I knew he was doing very well, but it was nice hearing other people complement him too.

Most people “wipe out” on their first few rides. Allan was able to stay on for over a minute (time limit) plus do a few tricks that many people struggle with.

His favorite ride though was one that many people skipped.  One day there was no one in line and he would do the ride and then hurry up the steps to do it again.  He would lay on his back and then spiral around a bowl until he dropped down a hole in the middle into a pool of water. I loved watching him having fun while showing off for me!

Adrian

Adrian really enjoyed the (extremely wet) water tree house for the younger children. It had toys to shoot water, buckets that dumped water and slides.

He learned how to go really fast on the slides and would race whoever he could persuade to go with him.  He gave me some pointers, wiggling his little body to show me how to do it.  His lessons improved my speed, and I even beat him once or twice (out of about “50” attempts.)

He impressed the life guards that he talked to.  One of the girls, after watching him give lessons, told me that he was “a keeper”.

Adrian was just big enough to ride some of the “big kid” rides. We asked him on Thursday if he wanted to ride some of the milder ones. He was willing to do the Cheetah race and loved it.  When asked about some other rides, he said no, maybe after lunch.  After his nap, he still refused to try them.

Before leaving he started talking about riding the Victoria Falls. He really wanted to do it.  So Allan took him down twice.  He loved it!