Since we never made it to Alabama Adventure on Saturday, we decided to make a go of it on Sunday afternoon. We arrived around 12:30 and made our way over to the waterpark side. I stayed over there with Nathaniel and Jake for a while so that Grayson and Nicholas could go to the amusement park side and ride some of the rides that were high on their list.
While we usually stay on the toddler side of the waterpark for Jake, on Sunday he wanted to go to one of the Big Kid areas to play.
It has a huge bucket that dumps water on everyone periodically, and at first it scared Jake (you can see him running from the shower below), but eventually he warmed up to it and laughed hysterically every time it rained down.
He practiced his self-taught “swimming” moves every chance he got. He loved holding his breath and swimming like a little frog in the shallower pools.
He was anxious to test his swimming ability in the lazy river, as well.
After a little more than an hour, Grayson and Nick came back, and Nick joined in on the waterslide.
I was so proud of Jake, because he rode one of the big waterslides all by himself for the first time (after some test runs – three with me and three with Nathaniel). He LOVED it!
Nathaniel and Nick both went down head-first ... the more exciting, the better, in their minds.
Once Nick and Grayson were back, Jake wanted to show Grayson how he could go down the slide ... but he wanted Grayson to go with him.
Around 3:00, we took a snack/drink break, and as if it weren’t uncomfortable enough to be pregnant in the Hot, Hot Alabama Summer, while we were snacking, I got bitten on the nipple by a fire ant that had worked its way into my swimsuit.
OH YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT.
Left nipp, fire ant from hell. Bit me three times before I realized what was happening. If this has never happened to you while pregnant, LET ME ASSURE YOU that it is something you want to avoid at all costs.
By the time we got home around 6:00, the poison was spreading, and I literally had visible red streaks radiating out across my sternum. PAINFUL DOESN’T BEGIN TO COVER IT, INTERNET. I had to take Benadryl to get to sleep, and even then it took two hours to fall asleep. PAIN. FUL.
Anyway, back to Alabama Adventure, because I am nothing if not game for sucking it up in the name of fun.
Before we left the park altogether, we took a detour by the amusement park side so that Nathaniel and Jake could experience the fun of the newest ride, Buzzsaw Falls.
It is very tall. (And I'm sure you're thinking, "SHE LET HER 3-YEAR-OLD GET ON THAT?")
I wasn’t sure Jake would want to ride it, but he was ALL ABOUT BUZZSAW FALLS.
That's my little family -- my four guys! -- waving to me from the very front of this boat. Again, you have no idea how much I wish I’d had a zoom lens on me, because their expressions were priceless, absolutely PRICELESS.
The ride lasts about two minutes from start to finish, because the boat just climbs the track, makes a wide turn and comes hurtling down the other side.
I cannot TELL you how much they loved it!
There were so few people left in the park by that time that they got to ride it several times without ever getting out of the boat. SO MUCH FUN! I was totally jealous.
They must have ridden it eight or nine times in a row ... and they loved it more and more each time. Jake was screaming with happiness and excitement all the way down.
The big boys got to the point where they were raising their hands in the air all the way down. "Look, Mommy! No hands!"
Once they got off the boat, they could run over to the observation deck and get totally drenched by the next boat’s splash. And when I say “next boat's splash,” I mean it was a blinding, incapacitating wall of water that was capable of knocking over grown adults. And did. I witnessed it personally.
See? Here’s the deck as the watchers are waiting for the boat to come down:
And here’s the deck as the boat makes its landing:
I was standing just inches outside of the splash range so that my already-broken camera wouldn't stop working altogether, but for two of the landings I stowed my camera in the bag at my feet and ran up to the deck to experience the splash with the boys. SO MUCH FUN!
If I haven't given you enough insight into how much fun they were having, here's one quick picture of Jake as he ran down the walkway to tell me how "INCWEDIBLE " it was ...
We will be making a trip back to Alabama Adventure soon, I'm sure. And NEXT Summer, watch out! Someone's gonna have to hold the baby while I take MY turn on Buzzsaw Falls!
