Kalahari Weekend

What a dumb name for a water park. Kalahari. Does that make any sense at all? No, it does not! Anyway, we spent the weekend there. It's an African-themed (in a Disney sort of way) hotel with an indoor-outdoor water park. Since we're not doing a big family vacation this year, we thought a fun waterpark weekend was certainly in order!

Friday night after Boot arrived, we hit the road for Sandusky. Pie was only interested in the water, so we checked into our room and he ate the caramel apple and popcorn we got him then shimmied into his suit right away. We let him go to the water park while we had dinner with Boot in the Kahunaville restaurant that overlooks the indoor part of the park. Boot was charming & amusing at dinner. We had a lovely time with him. We split some loaded fries for our appetizer. Then, J had a big chicken salad, Boot had a Philly cheesesteak and I had a fabulous burger that had chorizo folded in. After dinner, we collected Pie and went back to the room. He ate the food we'd brought him and the boys commenced to watch cartoons while we read our books. Pie was pretty rowdy the first night, probably from the excitement of the park, but he was much calmer Saturday, to everyone's relief.

In the morning, J & Boot popped up about 7:30, while Pie & I wanted to sleep longer. Since the damn t.v. went on immediately, going back to sleep wasn't an option for me. So, J brought me a latté and the paper. I read that and then woke Pie to hit the water. Boot and J had gone down as soon as the park opened at 9 & rode all the slides. We didn't get down there until 10, but it still wasn't at all crowded. I found J and we rode the lazy river. Boot & Pie found one another, too, and played together until Boot got a tummy ache. Then, they went for a nap in the room while we sunned and swam and relaxed in the hot tub. Refreshed, they joined us again after lunch in the room. We stayed until the sun set and it started getting to be twilight.

Pie was tired and just wanted to flop in front of cartoons, so we made him a sandwich for dinner. He was thrilled to be allowed to just relax while we had dinner with Boot. I had a pretty decent stir-fry while Boot had cheesy fries and J a steak for dinner. The steak and her mashed potatoes were both great and I kind of wished I'd ordered them! I'd had a not-very-good steak at Applebee's earlier in the week (I have found, lately, that their steaks are way too salty and generally tough) and a good one would have been nice.

After dinner, Boot joined his brother for cartoons. Neither one of them was interested in a carriage ride. I thought at least Pie would want to come, if only to visit with the horse. But, they were tuckered out. So, my sunburnt honey and I went alone. It was nice & relaxing. Once back from the ride, we stopped by the Candy Hut and got caramel apples and candy. Boot didn't want his, but Pie happily ate a huge chunk of krispie-enhanced chocolate. He has a definite sweet tooth despite his propensity to request things like asparagus and broccoli with his dinner. We watched "America's Got Talent" (why would anyone think breaking things with his butt on national television is a good idea???) and a couple of Disney shows before hitting the sack.

Sunday morning, everyone was happy to sleep in and just go ahead and check out without any more water time. We did stop in the lobby to see a baby tiger, though. It was only 5 weeks old and was adorable. I love tigers...and am glad I don't live where they prowl in the wild. That would be scary. We made a jukebox and ginger ale stop at Cheers in the Sandusky mall, then had lunch at Ruby Tuesday. The salad bar there was terrific, with all the veggies crisp and cold. Pie and I had big burgers, Boot went for the minis and J had a gorgeous crab cake with her salad. With all the salad I ate, I didn't want my fries & I would cheerfully get just the salad bar there next time! We hung out at the mall for awhile. J ordered some cool Chuck Taylor low-tops, we both found clothes at C.J. Banks (2 pairs of pants for her, 2 whole dressy outfits for me...all for under $70!), Boot picked up some pants and a shirt at American Eagle and Pie joyfully picked 2 new video games. The boys were snipping at each other much of the time, as they are wont to do lately. Boot's tolerance for his brother seems to be remarkably low while Pie is unwilling to do Boot's bidding any longer. Oy vey! However, the strong bond of love remains between them, too.

Once home, we watched "Shrek" with Boot while Pie learned his way around his new games. After Boot had been picked up, I went to the grocery. Then, I made dinner (beef-veggie ragout, noodles, salad, chive popovers) while J kept me company and Pie showed his new games to his friend, Austin. After dinner, I made some chocolate crescents & then J and I watched a little t.v. before going to bed.