And Tomorrow We'll Do It Again

Well folks, I am beat.

I intentionally used the word "folks" because it signifies that I am old. I'm wearing SPF 85+ and my feet are sore from walking around the pool deck.

But at least being old is fun.

Saturday night, Rylie and Brandon slept over because their parents were at a wedding in Austin. We had a blast doing things that I honestly can't remember because of the aforementioned old.

This is Rylie and Jackson before church on Sunday.


Did you know there are people out there who get four (OR MORE) children ready for church each week? Bless them.

This is Lilly and Brandon. He isn't upset, just solemn as a judge. I had gotten in his business while he was trying to watch Cars and that was my mistake.


After church, we went to The Sonic to get four kids all hopped up on grease and salt. I have developed a love for the green chile cheeseburger and come to find out, it's NOT AVAILABLE in Texas. How could this be? I had to settle for the regular Sonic burger and luckily, it was not even a small sacrifice. The tater tots and chocolate Coke eased my pain.

We got out and ate on the lovely Sonic veranda and fingerprinted up their window while we waited.


I think after that we went swimming, but I have been chronically wet for at least 72 hours, so it's hard to tell the swimming from the showering from the sweating. But either way, there was some damp-ish activity after lunch.

But Monday morning is when I realized the extent of my agedness.

A water park kicked my tail.

Don't be fooled--there is nothing relaxing about a place called "Hawaiian Falls." It was FUN and HOT and HOT and fun and HOT, but not in a lay-on-a-Hawaiian-beach sort of way.


We wave-pooled, water-slided, and rode the Hawaiian half-pipe. I think I have mentioned this before, but even the lazy river is more of a wild rapids race course, than "lazy." The kids don't like to use tubes, so they swim lapafterlapafterlapafterlap around the entire water park. OH MY.

I recall in high school I could very nearly SLEEP around the lazy river. For hours. Those are now days of yore. {If that means I can scarcely remember what it was like and have no hope it will ever happen again.}

We packed enough snacks for the entire island of Hawaii, but J & L don't really enjoy a snack break because it implies that you would NOT be retrieving your bathing suit from inside your body after riding the Typhoon.

Our spirits were flagging a little in the afternoon, but J was bound and determined to stay until it closed. I am usually all in favor, but it was over 100 degrees and my feet were being repetitively exfoliated by the scathing heat of the concrete, coupled with a jagged stray rock or two. Exfoliation is usually good for the first layer or two of skin, but after that it is called EXCRUCIATING PAIN.



Rylie came to join us in the afternoon and that proved to be a shot of adrenaline to demonstrate the finer points of double-tubing and lazy river {lack of} etiquette.


At this point, the entire water park was rocking because the wave pool had permanently disrupted my equilibrium. But we forged ahead and I'll admit to pretending I was Bethany Hamilton a few times.

Then today, after learning during a morning run that my eyeballs DO, in fact, sweat, we got back in the pool.

We got to spend time with my friend, Shelley, and her kids. And Shelley's Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream. I can die now.

There was even a taste test versus Haagen-Daaz and her homemade stuff killed it.

Two out of three meals today were eaten poolside--is this a problem? Fantastic pizza with a garlic-parmesan flavored crust {go with me on this} was our lunch. A bad crust can be a pizza ruiner and this crust was unlike anything I'd had.

It was so much fun to watch our kids {who have not seen each other since infancy} play and laugh and eat together.

Shelley and I solved most of the world's problems including but not limited to: pantry issues, dining room chair paint, sofa fabric, and various grill phobias.

Later this afternoon, we changed swim suits and segued to our next pool with our cousins.

There was more swimming and water slides and eating. I really like their pool because of the unlimited iced tea supply and the ability for adults to enjoy a nice cold beverage in the pool without so much as a lifeguard whistle.

However, when I saw a kid devouring his chicken tenders in the shallow end, I concluded that it might be nice to separate the eating and swimming activities at least a little bit.

Or not.

A few chicken tenders, burgers, fries, and cookie dough ice cream sandwiches later, we were happy.

Another great thing about Pool #2 is that there are showers so we can go home CLEAN and HAPPY. {Of course, that is really a figurative happy, because after eight hours of swimming, people are mostly tired and cranky rather than cheerful and pleasant.}


A pajama-fied Lilly and Brandon played some foosball on the way out.


As I sit here typing the dullest recap to a post which could've been entirely captured by the words "WE SWAM AND WE ATE," I think I am actually hungry again. How could this be?!