Volcano Island

On Josiah's birthday I took the kids to another waterpark. Yes, our family loves waterparks. Swimming was a big part of my childhood and I am happy to share that experience with my children. There are a couple of more waterparks I hope to go to before the end of summer.

Wesley really wanted to try Volcano Island because of the name. The park used to be called Downpour. I had an Entertainment Book coupon for buy one admission, get one free. The coupon had the old name on it but it didn't expire until November so I was able to use it. The park is $8 for those over 48" tall and $6.75 for those under 48". Children under two years old are free. The young man working the front entrance seemed rather confused by the coupon. I realized later than he charged us for two kids and let me in for free.

Wesley and Lydia liked these little dumping buckets.
Josiah is trying so hard to walk but he hasn't mastered it yet. I think it is so cute when he walks with both arms above his head. Wesley and Lydia couldn't do the big slides because you have to be 48" tall and there isn't a swim test.

One of Wesley's classmates and his family met us at the waterpark. The kids had fun swimming in the big pool and goind down two little slides.

I liked Volcano Island but I would only go back after 2:00 because that is when most of the camp groups clear out. It was very crowded with camps before 2:00. We still enjoyed it but at times there were just too many kids there in my opinion. When we left, around 3:30, it seemed perfect. I took this picture around 2:00. The kids also liked this area with the dumping bucket and slides.

I looked at the website before leaving home but I didn't see anything about no outside food and drinks. So, we took snacks. We had cupcakes for Josiah's birthday. He only liked the icing (buttercream).

As we were leaving, I saw a sign by the exit that said, "No outside food or drinks." Oops. Splashdown is very clear on its website that no outside food is allowed and they check bags to make sure. Last year, Great Waves was also clear on its website that no outside food was allowed but since the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority changed its websites, it is no longer clear that Great Waves doesn't allow outside food. Pirate's Cove and Volcano Island are also part of NVRPA but I have always had the impression that outside food is allowed Pirate's Cove.

Here is a cute picture of Wesley and Isaac.

Lydia, Augusta, Lucy, and Josiah.

Lydia and Josiah fell asleep on the way home and continued their naps inside the house until we woke them up for dinner. We enjoyed spending Josiah's birthday at Volcano Island.

New Sprayground

On Tuesday, one of my good friends moved away from the neighborhood. She was the second friend and neighbor to move out of state this month. She and I had already done a lot of fun things with the kids this summer. Last summer, I did a lot of activities with her and my next door neighbor who moved to California in April. I'm sad that my whine time friends have all moved away.

I was feeling a little down and missing hanging out with my friends on Tuesday afternoon. I decided to take the kids to a new sprayground. As soon as we got there we saw two of Wesley's classmates and their families! It was such a nice surprise and a complete blessing.
Wesley was thrilled to get to see his friends and Lydia loved playing with their sisters and I got to talk to their parents.

I am not sure why Wesley is pouting in this picture. Maybe he thought he wasn't get any snacks.

As soon as I took this picture, I rushed back and sat down beside Josiah to make sure he didn't fall off the bench. He looks so tiny in this picture. Chris said it looks like a forced perspective shot like what was used in the Lord and the Rings to make the Hobbits look smaller.

After snack time, the kids had so much fun running around on a big wooden bridge called, The Treehouse. I forgot to take any pictures while they were playing.

After our friends had to leave at 5:00, we went back to the sprayground for another hour. Since we were having leftovers for dinner, I didn't have to rush home.

Josiah really liked everything at the sprayground.

Wesley loved the "pirate ship" and spray cannons. It's funny - I mostly saw boys with the cannons.

Josiah always likes the bubblers at water parks.

The sprayground is really big and there are attendants working there to make sure everything is going okay.

Lydia pretended to take pictures of Josiah.

Here is my silly boy trying to stick his entire head in the water.

Fairfax County was late getting to the sprayground party, but she pulled out the real show stopper! This is one nice spray ground!

Upton Hill

One afternoon last week, I took the kids to Ocean Dunes at Upton Hill in Arlington. We got there at 4:00 so it would only cost $5 per person for Wesley, Lydia, and me. Josiah was free. We could have been gone at 3:00 but it would have been $8 per person. I didn't think the extra hour was worth $9. The park wasn't crowded and we had a great time with our neighbors.
Wesley and Lydia loved these waterslides. Lydia was barely tall enough (42").

Wesley had a great time on the slides.

We played in the pool that isn't very deep. I think it goes from 2 feet to 4 1/2 feet. There is also a regular pool for lap swimming that we didn't use and we also didn't get in the baby pool which has a beach entry.

Josiah loved the bubblers.
This little play structure with a slide, dumping bucket, and sprayers is in a zero depth area. The bubblers are in the same area.

Josiah loves climbing up stairs, even stairs where there a lot of sprayers.

I would go back to Upton Hills - at 4:00. We stayed 2 1/2 hours. Next time, we might stay until closing time at 7:00.

Gymnastics Party

The day before Wesley's birthday, we met friends at Jammin' Java to see The Great Zucchini. The kids loved him. After lunch, we went to Wegman's.

Wesley and Lydia were very excited to see the blue crabs. And the lobster. No, we didn't buy any seafood.We were there to buy Wesley's birthday cake. This was Chris' request, The Ultimate Chocolate Cake. I really like homemade desserts, but this was easier since we were already out in Fairfax for lunch.I can't believe he is six years old!

We didn't wrap his presents. They all came in UPS boxes so we just let him open the boxes with a pair of scissors.We did his party in Arlington at the county's gymnastics gym. This was by far the cheapest party place I could find for gymnastics. Because it is such a good deal, it books up three months in advance. I figured all of this out in the middle of April so we missed the window for his birthday month. I turned in all my paper work by the end of April so we could have a party in July. The kids had a 45 minute gymnastics class.























At the end of the class, the birthday boy got a medal.
Here is a group picture. It is so hard to get 12 kids looking at the camera, smiling, and not making silly faces.

After the class, we had pizza that was delivered to the gym. We also had a costco cake.


I ordered stretchy frogs, foam gliders, and airplanes from OTC for the goody bags. I also put Pop Rocks in the bags. I received a lot of positive reviews on the gymnastics party and the airplanes and gliders. Wesley had a great time and it was so easy to host this party. Well, except for Josiah being into everything and screaming everytime someone else held him.

First Dance Recital

Lydia's first dance recital was almost a month ago. She started her class in January. I love her teacher.

All the students got a medal after they finished the dress rehearsal. Parents were allowed to video the rehearsal.

Chris and I really enjoyed the recital. We had a sitter for Josiah and Wesley but Wesley probably would have liked seeing all the dances. The "rec" classes like Lydia's were fun to watch. Of course, they improved as the kids got older. The performance company's performances were amazing.

We gave Lydia flowers after her performance.

She is looking forward to taking another class in the fall.

For Pete's Sake

Our weekend plans were postponed to another weekend, so we decided to visit another water park. We drove out to Water Mine on Saturday. We got there a little before it opened and waited in a long line to get in. Chris took Wesley in and I took Lydia and Josiah in since we had two Entertainment Book coupons for buy one admission get on free. So, all the kids got in free (kids under two are free).

I took Wesley and Lydia to Water Mine once last summer and Chris took them twice. They talked about it all winter.

Wesley and Lydia wore life jackets in the lazy river because the water was 3 1/2 to 4 feet deep. Wesley did swim around a little before putting his vest on.
Josiah got to go down Little Pete and Big Pete while sitting in my lap.
At the bottom of the slides we both got a face full of water. It didn't bother him though.

Josiah also rode down Big Pete and Little Pete with Chris. Wesley and Lydia loved the slides, of course.

Here we are on the big snake.

We didn't get a picture of Josiah in his favorite area. He loved the beach entry where the little bubblers were squirting up. He kept crawling through them and up and down the little ramp.

One very nice thing about Water Mine is that you can bring in your own food and drinks. Chris packed the cooler while I was working out Saturday morning. He said he thought he was packing too much food but we ate everything. Wesley and Lydia eat so much more when they are at a water park because of all the exercise they get.

Chris and I decided that we would stay until the 3:00 pool break. Five hours was enough time to spend at Water Mine. The kids wanted to do the lazy river a few more times before we left. I rode around in a raft three time with Josiah and then got out because I was cold (where was the heat and humidity?). At some point, Lydia wanted to get in the raft with Chris and she told him, "I want to rest for a little while." He didn't realize until it was pool break that she had fallen asleep in the raft! He said when he told her to get out that she didn't respond and then he had trouble picking her up because she was sleeping so soundly!

Last year the carousel was included in the price of admission to the water park but this year, you have to pay $1.75 for kids over two (parents ride for free).

It was a fun day and we all came home exhausted.

SplashDown

On Sunday we went to SplashDown with David, Amanda, Claire and Lucy. When they visited us last summer we went to another local waterpark.

I thought that Wesley and Lydia wouldn't be able to do the waterslides because they aren't 48" tall yet. I asked about this at the head lifeguard station and found out they could take a swim test for the slides. They had to swim the width of the deep end. I was pleasantly surprised that Lydia passed the test. As soon as she got out she said, "Can I do that again?" Wesley also had no problem with the swim test. If they hadn't passed the test they could have done four of the six slides with life jackets on.

Chris and I really liked this blue waterslide because of the round tubes. Wesley and Lydia liked it also.

This tube slide seemed really long but we all liked it.
I wish we had gotten some pictures of the kids in the lazy river. They just wanted to swim around and around in there. I just wanted to float in a tube.

Here is Claire swimming after the Cannon Ball slide.
This green slide was my favorite.

Wesley on the blue Cannon Ball Slide.

Next time, I will pull Lydia's hair back in a ponytail, or at least pull back the sides and front of it. I think her hair being in her face after the cannon ball slide interfered with her swimming. She did great, but she was a little slower than normal because she couldn't see well. Maybe I can teach her how to come up out of the water so her hair is all slicked back on her head.

Lunch was the only negative thing of the day. The park won't let you bring in outside food and drinks. They checked my bag and asked if the crackers I had were for the baby. Chris, David, and Amanda waited in line for almost 30 minutes to order food because "the computers are really slow."

After lunch, Josiah and Chris took a short nap. What is my excuse for the camera strap being in the picture? I quickly snapped this while wearing my sunglasses which prevens me for seeing the screen.
After his nap, Josiah was ready for more plalying. He loved crawling around in the baby pool area.

He even liked the bubblers. Recently, he has started trying to drink the water as it comes out of the bathtub faucet.

After almost seven hours at Splashdown, we were all tired and ready for dinner. We really liked the water park and I'm sure we will go back.

Big Thrills for a Baby

On Friday we went to one of our favorite kid places, Kids N Motion. This was Josiah's first time to really play there. He got in for free since he isn't yet one. I used a coupon from the Entertainment Book for buy one admission get one free, so it only cost us $9 for 90 minutes of fun.

Josiah got to ride his first "roller coaster."


He crawled around in the moonbounce. He really loved it when I held him and jumped up and down.
He went down the big slides with me and with Wesley and with Lydia.

Wesley and Lydia were really into playing with him at Kids N Motion.

Josiah loved this climbing structure. I wish we had this in our basement. He could navigate the entire thing by himself.
He recently figured out how to go down steps safely on his belly feet first. He does the slide the same way.

Lydia and Elena played together a lot.
Here is a picture of Wesley and Josiah on a big slide. I carried Josiah to the top so I got an extra workout today.


Josiah liked playing with the door to this little house.
Here he is drivng the train.
I think Josiah liked the big slides more and more with each trip down.