I Want Water Park

Last December, we discovered N's love (obsession) of water parks. We visited a Beaches resort in the Caribbean and N was in heaven in the pirate themed toddler area.  We'd never seen him dance and smile so much.  He took hours long naps each afternoon from exhaustion and then woke up ready to head back out to the water park.  It was a nice surprise since he had hated his swim lessons from the previous summer.  I guess the deep water of a pool was intimidating, but slides and water fountains are pure fun.

Soon after the trip, we began hearing the request, "I want water park."  This led to me devising a summer schedule full of water park and pool activity.  The summer kicked off with a Memorial Day Weekend trip to the Catskills.  I chose Fishkill, NY specifically because of the water park in the town.  See above map for a look at the fabulous Splashdown Beach in Fishkill.  The toddler area had a Bob the Builder theme so for the week leading to our vacation, we inundated N with the cartoon to get him excited.  The toddler area was a bit tame for a two year old, but down the path was the coconut pool, which had more advanced slides and waterfalls.  A couple of weeks later, we were in Myrtle Beach for father's day weekend and fortunately our hotel had a toddler pool with great waterfalls and water fountain structures, as well as easy beach access.  It was so great that we didn't need to visit the local water parks.  We convinced N that the pool was in fact the water park.  ;)  Next, a July 4th trip to Six Flags Hurricane Adventure was derailed by rain. Luckily, a trip to Atlantis was scheduled for mid-July and we hope to visit a local water park in August.  Phew!

This passion for water parks must stem from N's overall love of water.  He drinks an inordinate amount of water every day and this is not just restricted to his spring water filled sippy cups.  He stops at every water fountain, he drinks out of sinks and bathtubs, he tries to bend down and drink from puddles (sometimes we are to slow to stop him!), he drinks from other people's water glasses, etc.  I prefer this love of water to sugary drinks, but even I cannot believe how much water he drinks.  Here's to H₂O!