Back to school!

The first day of school came and went, whether we were ready for it or not.

On the Monday before school started, I let the kids camp out in the backyard. We’d tried to do it on the weekend, but it ended up being windy and rainy. The kids set up the tent by themselves, and took it down, too. They hauled out their sleeping bags, pillows, stuffed animals, and even took in two little tables to play games.

After we said prayers and told them goodnight out there in the tent, they each came into the house multiple times. But they did sleep in the tent all night, and had a grand time. The next day they promptly decided they hadn’t had enough games, and they started in with Monopoly.

On Thursday, it was the first day of school.
We got Cole off to early morning seminary by 6:45, and then the other kids enjoyed the traditional breakfast at the bus stop.

Off they went on the bus and their carpools. It’s a little bit overwhelming with kids in four different schools. I’ve got kids leaving at all different times and then John is on his own Kindergarten schedule starting this Thursday. It’s something to get used to, that’s for sure.

The next day, I decided to take John to Seven Peaks Waterpark. I got two free passes from the Music store when we rented Natalie’s saxophone, and since John was the only one home, I thought it would be a fun thing to do with just the two of us. So we packed a lunch, got our swimsuits and sunscreen, and headed off to Provo. We paid the $5 to park (what a rip-off!) but got in free with the passes ($21 each? Gasp!). I was going to go and rent a tube for us so we could go down the lazy river and do some of the other mild rides, but John saw the kiddie pool first. So, into the kiddie pool we went.

He was happy to slide down this little tiny slide.

In fact, he went down that slide over

and over and over.

I tried multiple times to get him to leave the kiddie pool so that we could explore other areas of the waterpark. Look, there’s a wave pool. It’s just like being at the beach. Look, there’s the lazy river, let’s go do that. Each time I suggested we leave and do something else, he got all fussy and said, “I don’t wanna go to another slide!” I decided it wasn’t worth the battle. Weren’t we here to do something fun, just the two of us? So I let him play in that little pool for hours, and go down that same slide over and over again. There were, in fact, three or four OTHER slides in the kiddie pool, but he would NOT even consider it.
Eventually I got my book and sat at the side of the pool reading.

I didn’t feel comfortable just leaving him to go do some slides myself, and he wasn’t having any of it. If the other kids had been there, we could have taken turns watching/playing in the kiddie pool with John and I probably could have convinced him to go on the lazy river, at least. But with just me, I was a captive audience at the kiddie pool and that one slide.

At about 2:00, I suggested to the little slider that we take a break and have some lunch. So, we went to the eating area and had our lovely lunch. Then John said, “Mom, let’s go home.” What? We have ALL DAY passes, and we don’t have to be home until 4:00, and you want to go home? And I didn’t even go on a single slide? Well, I take that back. I went on the same slide that John went on. Once or twice. I couldn’t believe he wanted to go home. Oh, whatever. Sure. We can go home. So, we packed up our stuff, got in the car and went home. I am SO glad I didn’t pay for those day passes. And next time I go to a waterpark with just one kid, it’s not going to be John. He could have had just as much fun with the slip-n-slide and the blow up pool at home. But it was a memory making experience, right?