A Summer Trip to Iowa, Part II

When I was a kid, I loved water parks. Slides and pools and squirting water everywhere--it was the ultimate in summer fun. It seems that my sons agree with this sentiment. Both of them had a blast at the Ramada Tropics in Des Moines last week. 

The best part was that in the kiddie area, the water was very shallow, so Nick wasn't even a little bit afraid. After several pool visits this summer, Nick now knows the difference between shallow and deep water. 

This is a nice shot of all four gentleman romping in the water. Nick is holding a little toy boat, which he threw at Henry's head, I believe, right after I snapped this picture. 

Lest you feel sorry for poor Henry, though, I should tell you that he has started biting. He can defend himself.  Henry thinks it is funny, but it hurts! 

Speaking of hurting, Nicholas has developed a fear of water, and he held on to me so tight in the deeper pool that he left finger-shaped bruises on the upper part of my left arm. He shrieked and sobbed and held on to me and would not let go, even though he was wearing a life vest. Fear. That's why he mostly stuck to the shallow pool. "Mommy, is the water deep or shallow? I only want the shallow water. No deep water." 

Nick wasn't brave enough to try the little kid slides, but he would go down this boat slide. Backwards and on his tummy. I'm not sure why this seemed less scary to him. 

Nick's swimsuit ended up being too big for him, too, so I (and everyone else) ended up spending our time in the water shouting out every two minutes or so, "Pull up your shorts, Nick!" 

The nice thing about being in the water is how it makes kids tired. I will admit, it made me tired, too. Even though we were only in 2 feet of water, tops. 

Tomorrow I'll tell you about Henry's first time playing Skee-ball in an arcade. He tried to climb in.