Early last week we took the kids to Kalahari. This is a little tradition the Brian Szilagyi family has been doing for years. We finally decided to join them in 2017 and couldn't wait to go back this year, in 2018. I'm going to do a quick cap of both trips here.
Coraline had actually thrown up on Friday, but she didn't seem sick at all and no one else caught it by Monday. However, Coraline threw up again Monday morning just a couple hours before we were suppose to leave. Again, she seemed totally fine, so I sort of insisted we just go anyway. Ben was more hesitant, but we'll return to this story a little later.
We arrived around 1 and were at the waterpark by 1:30. Mara was hilarious. We kept saying we were going to go to the pool. When we opened our hotel room she let out the biggest moan of disappointment and threw herself on the floor crying for the pool. Probably doesn't sound as funny as it was, but it cracked me up that she thought a pool was going to be behind our hotel door.
We were only in the pool about 10 minutes before Ben shouted at me that Coraline had pooped her pants. Luckily it was super solid and she was standing out of the water. But it took about 40 minutes to get her all cleaned up and changed and back in the pool. It was only about another 10 minutes before Mara had a poop. Her's was not so solid and -- despite having a swim diaper on -- it was much worse to clean up than Coraline's. Finally, after about 90 minutes of being "at the waterpark" I finally got to swim and have some fun with the kids. We only stayed another 60 minutes or so, and I wasted 20 of that waiting with Nell, Jackson, and Reid for the wave pool to come on, only to find out it wasn't running for the day. It was seriously one mishap after another.
But wait for it.
I took the kids up to the hotel room to get changed for dinner. Just as we were about to go in the room, Mara spotted Ben and ran down the hall to him. She was so excited and full of life. He picked her up and held her just above his face, and she puked all over him. I mean all over him. It was stuck in his beard for a good ten minutes after the initial vomit. Oh my gosh, the look he gave me! He was the one that did not want to deal with kid puke in a hotel.
So Coraline, Mara, and I spent the rest of the night in the hotel room trying to catch Mara's pukes in a trash can. Lou loved watching cartoons in bed with us though. She didn't care at all that she was missing out on Reid, Nell, and Daddy's fun with the cousins. They went out to Famous Dave's for dinner and then hit the amusement park for an hour or two. Brian treated Ben to a fun virtual reality game. Nell went on an upside down ride with Allie. She screamed so loud the attendant turned it off and let her out, ha! Reid had fun on the go cart track and in the laser tag arena with Jackson.
After the first clean up, Mara climbed on the bed and jumped up and down and up and down. I really thought she'd just drank too much salt water. And I was still certain Coraline's pukes were the result of her eating a craft leaf (which I only discovered as she was throwing it up Friday afternoon). But about 8:00 pm Mara started heaving every 12 minutes and it lasted an hour and a half. I was starting to doubt that it was all just a fluke, so we kept her out of the pool the next morning. Ben took the kids to the hotel restaurant for breakfast and then I took them to the pool for an hour before check out.
She did have to come with us to the amusement park for a couple hours before heading home. And that part of our trip is the only time I took any pictures. I'm always nervous about having my phone at the pool, but next year I've got to take it because I want pictures of all the fun they have in there! Nell and Allie just go go go. They aren't afraid of tackling any of the two rider water slides. Reid and Jackson are a little more cautious, but always have fun on the obstacle course and lazy river. Reid and Nell love the outdoor hot tub. And the kid areas are a blast for Mara and Coraline. It's such a fun place to spend a cold winter day.
Anyway, here's some photos from our both this year and last year's trips.
The kids and I were the first ones to reach the amusement park, so I took them all on a ferris wheel ride. Coraline and Nell had a blast, but Reid cried and screamed and had to be held like a baby. Poor boy. Mara liked it so long as Reid calmed down.
Coraline had actually thrown up on Friday, but she didn't seem sick at all and no one else caught it by Monday. However, Coraline threw up again Monday morning just a couple hours before we were suppose to leave. Again, she seemed totally fine, so I sort of insisted we just go anyway. Ben was more hesitant, but we'll return to this story a little later.
We arrived around 1 and were at the waterpark by 1:30. Mara was hilarious. We kept saying we were going to go to the pool. When we opened our hotel room she let out the biggest moan of disappointment and threw herself on the floor crying for the pool. Probably doesn't sound as funny as it was, but it cracked me up that she thought a pool was going to be behind our hotel door.
We were only in the pool about 10 minutes before Ben shouted at me that Coraline had pooped her pants. Luckily it was super solid and she was standing out of the water. But it took about 40 minutes to get her all cleaned up and changed and back in the pool. It was only about another 10 minutes before Mara had a poop. Her's was not so solid and -- despite having a swim diaper on -- it was much worse to clean up than Coraline's. Finally, after about 90 minutes of being "at the waterpark" I finally got to swim and have some fun with the kids. We only stayed another 60 minutes or so, and I wasted 20 of that waiting with Nell, Jackson, and Reid for the wave pool to come on, only to find out it wasn't running for the day. It was seriously one mishap after another.
But wait for it.
I took the kids up to the hotel room to get changed for dinner. Just as we were about to go in the room, Mara spotted Ben and ran down the hall to him. She was so excited and full of life. He picked her up and held her just above his face, and she puked all over him. I mean all over him. It was stuck in his beard for a good ten minutes after the initial vomit. Oh my gosh, the look he gave me! He was the one that did not want to deal with kid puke in a hotel.
So Coraline, Mara, and I spent the rest of the night in the hotel room trying to catch Mara's pukes in a trash can. Lou loved watching cartoons in bed with us though. She didn't care at all that she was missing out on Reid, Nell, and Daddy's fun with the cousins. They went out to Famous Dave's for dinner and then hit the amusement park for an hour or two. Brian treated Ben to a fun virtual reality game. Nell went on an upside down ride with Allie. She screamed so loud the attendant turned it off and let her out, ha! Reid had fun on the go cart track and in the laser tag arena with Jackson.
After the first clean up, Mara climbed on the bed and jumped up and down and up and down. I really thought she'd just drank too much salt water. And I was still certain Coraline's pukes were the result of her eating a craft leaf (which I only discovered as she was throwing it up Friday afternoon). But about 8:00 pm Mara started heaving every 12 minutes and it lasted an hour and a half. I was starting to doubt that it was all just a fluke, so we kept her out of the pool the next morning. Ben took the kids to the hotel restaurant for breakfast and then I took them to the pool for an hour before check out.
She did have to come with us to the amusement park for a couple hours before heading home. And that part of our trip is the only time I took any pictures. I'm always nervous about having my phone at the pool, but next year I've got to take it because I want pictures of all the fun they have in there! Nell and Allie just go go go. They aren't afraid of tackling any of the two rider water slides. Reid and Jackson are a little more cautious, but always have fun on the obstacle course and lazy river. Reid and Nell love the outdoor hot tub. And the kid areas are a blast for Mara and Coraline. It's such a fun place to spend a cold winter day.
Anyway, here's some photos from our both this year and last year's trips.
The kids and I were the first ones to reach the amusement park, so I took them all on a ferris wheel ride. Coraline and Nell had a blast, but Reid cried and screamed and had to be held like a baby. Poor boy. Mara liked it so long as Reid calmed down.
Next, we tried some miniature golf, but the kids quickly became frustrated with that. And the moment Jackson and Allie showed up they ran off to play. This gave me the chance to take Coraline and Mara on the merry go round and a little train roller coaster. Lou was loving all of it and could have gone on repeat a hundred times.
Ben showed up and the whole crew did a big go cart race game where Reid and Jackson were the proud winners. They also did the dark room and some laser tag, but soon the cousins were headed back to Illinois and we were cashing in our tickets for some prizes. We let each kid choose one last thing to do before we left and Nell wanted me to go on a big kid ride with her. We talked Coraline (who was tall enough by .25 inches) and Reid in to trying it as well, but Reid darted away just before they were to buckle us in. I have to admit, I did shout "Why does this scare me just a little bit?" While we were flying through the air. Ben got a good chuckle out of that!
Despite the pukeys, it was still a fun trip, but maybe not quite as magical as last year. It felt a lot more magical when it was an exotic place we'd never been to before. Plus, we didn't tell the kids about it until the night before. They were so thrilled! When I look back at these 2017 pictures, I can't believe how much they've changed in just one year.
Two things worth noting about last year's waterpark trip. The morning of checkout was a blast. We got there right when it opened and Reid, Nell, and I each tried the surf ride. Nell actually did really well and rode the waves for a bit. Reid didn't enjoy it as much, as he basically just rode down and then shot back up super hard and fast. I was a big chicken and took way too long to just jump on the board and do it, but it was pretty fun in the end. The other thing I remember enjoying so much was the 20 or so minutes Ben and I got to spend together. We must have just left Mara and Coraline with Brian and Jamie (actually, now that I think about it, I think we left Mara back in the hotel room with Julee and Gwen). We went on the coaster slide together and he challenged me to do the toilet bowl slide (that's not the actual name, but it is the more accurate name). It was fun to run off together and act like kids in the park for just a few minutes.
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