We arrived mid-afternoon on Friday and made a beeline for the water park! I was anxious to see what Emma would do in the water. We swam once in the rooftop pool at the Victory Hotel in China, and we only got to use our pool a few times once we were home before we moved, so I really didn't know what she would do.
We spent time in the kiddie pool at first, then tried the wave pool and hot tub. At first, Emma wasn't too thrilled with any of it, and I have to say the water was a little cooler than I thought it would be (not cold, but not warm) which probably didn't help. The kiddie area had a couple of little slides that we had Emma try which were probably her least favorite thing out of everything there! That surprised me because she can be such a little daredevil at home! I thought for sure this was going to be a waste of money if she didn't like it! We spent a few hours there, and she was pretty good and had fun, but she wasn't very into it.
We decided to go to Sonic for dinner. Not one of my better ideas! For those of you who don't know what Sonic is, it is a drive in fast food restaurant - meaning you eat in your car. WARNING - DON'T TRY THIS WITH A 23 MONTH OLD! Um, we didn't quite think this through! We brought Emma up front with us and she proceeded to touch EVERYTHING in the front console of my (admittedly very messy) car! Then the food arrived. Try juggling a burger, tater tots, a drink, popcorn chicken (for Emma) and a toddler without the food ending up everywhere!!!! I guarantee we will not be visiting Sonic again any time soon!
Saturday morning, we got up, showered and dressed and headed down for breakfast. Didn't plan on having to wait (oops) so it was almost 10:30 when we got back to the room. Checkout was at 11, so I quickly sorted and packed all the stuff we would need for the day (even though you check out, you can spend the day at the GWL water park), got everyone into bathing suits, and packed up all the rest of the stuff and sent it out with my pack mule (AKA Rodney) while Emma and I headed to the lobby to check out. By the way, WHY does it take 20 bags to go away for 2 nights???????
We stopped by the market place for the OCDF before we went to the water park and got Emma a couple of things - a little silk jewelry box, tangram puzzle blocks, and a painted lantern. I also got a pendant for a necklace with the Chinese characters for mama. I looked a them in China - I'm not sure why I didn't buy one there.
When we finally hit the water park, Emma was a different kid most of the time. We spent a lot of time in the kiddie pool. I sat on the side, and Emma walked back and forth from putting her hands in a little waterfall to patting my hands. When we were in the wave pool, we would hold her away from us in the water, and she would just kick her legs! A young Chinese girl came up to her and said Ni Hao. My shy Emma wouldn't say anything, but as soon as the girl moved away, she kept repeating Ni Hao! Around 4, we were feeling pretty waterlogged and decided to go, well we were getting out of the wave pool and Emma started pitching the biggest fit! She kept saying, "Splash, splash!" I couldn't refuse, so Rodney went to dry out, and Emma and I stayed in the pool. She started having the best time! I pretty much just let her go and followed her around. Don't you know she went walking out into the deeper water, and I think if I let her she would have tried to walk out to the deep end! She just kept going even when it was at her face and mouth. I had to grab her to pull her back. Then we went back to the shallow water and I held her hands as she was trying to 'jump' the waves - she would stick her leg straight out in front of her until a wave came and then she would step on it - toooo cute. A few times she had her leg behind her and wrapped around my leg. She also liked to stick both legs out in front so she was hanging from my hands and just let the waves hit her. We eventually made our way out of the pool area without a fuss.
We definitely have a water baby on our hands! I am so glad because I love the water. Hopefully she will like it when we hit the beach this summer!
Wow - it has been a while since I've given such a blow-by-blow of our day.....probably since China. It was my New Year's Resolution to keep up with the blog. So far, so good on that one!
For one of those moments that make you go AWWWWW -
Emma had a really late nap (like 6 - 7!) since we were in the water all day, so of course she was up late Saturday night. I finally got her settled and ready for bed, but she was still antsy and fighting sleep. She started saying 'Mommy', and I always answer back 'Emma', well, tonight she did that and I kept saying Emma softer and softer, and she copied me with Mommy until it was almost just a breath out, and with that little breath she was out like a light! What an amazing, wonderful, precious way to end a great day!
Here are some pictures - ENJOY!
My cutie ready for the water. I was shocked that last year's suit still fit - it actually seems to fit better????
Here it comes!
There were some smiles on Friday.... LOVE this one!
Shelter in a storm
Heading to the lobby for story time in her jammies!
Emma was so cute watching Wylie the wolf as the story was read. She was waving to him and smiling!
But just don't expect her to like him up close!
Didn't like this bear either, even though she kept saying, "A bear!" (which we say in a little action rhyme we do)
Emma wanted to go with daddy to load the car - even though he was already loaded down!
This picture was on Saturday, but when we got there Friday, I told Emma to go look out the window as I was unpacking a few things. I hear her say, "Daddy" (Rodney had gone down to move the car) so I looked out, and sure enough, there he was getting out of the car! We were on the 4th floor!
Oh, how I wish I had asked the man taking this picture to snap a few! Not exactly the picture I was hoping for!
MMMmmmmmm, french fries!
These are the ones from the end of the day on Saturday.
Heading to the lobby for story time in her jammies!
Emma was so cute watching Wylie the wolf as the story was read. She was waving to him and smiling!
But just don't expect her to like him up close!
Didn't like this bear either, even though she kept saying, "A bear!" (which we say in a little action rhyme we do)
Emma wanted to go with daddy to load the car - even though he was already loaded down!
This picture was on Saturday, but when we got there Friday, I told Emma to go look out the window as I was unpacking a few things. I hear her say, "Daddy" (Rodney had gone down to move the car) so I looked out, and sure enough, there he was getting out of the car! We were on the 4th floor!
Oh, how I wish I had asked the man taking this picture to snap a few! Not exactly the picture I was hoping for!
MMMmmmmmm, french fries!
These are the ones from the end of the day on Saturday.
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