If you asked each of us what was the highlight of our vacation, we'd all give you the same answer (although Danny might also say golf). Tim had a brainstorm right before we left for Florida, but we kept it secret until the morning we were ready to go to... Adventure Island, a water park in Tampa. Of course, two minutes after we made the announcement and ran to throw on our swimsuits, the heavens opened and let loose a torrential downpour. After brief deliberation, Tim and I decided "nothing ventured, nothing gained," banking on the fact that since it was an hour to the north, hopefully Tampa had a better forecast. It took a solid 40 minutes on the road, but eventually the clouds cleared and we found blue skies and sunshine.
Aside from a 20 minute shower in the middle of our day, the blue skies and sunshine remained, making for an absolutely marvelous family outing. We knew the park would be a big hit with Clare, who reveled in her visit to White Water last summer with Tim and has spoken of it monthly thereafter. Danny was more of a mystery, and I simply hoped that he would hold up long enough for Clare to get in a good visit. We needn't have worried, because from the get-go Danny was gung-ho. Once he took his first trip down the water slide, he was hooked. Judging from his water park performance and on the Viper at the lake, Danny feels the need for speed. Such a boy.
Clare had several favorites on Adventure Island. True to her ocean-loving self, she got a big kick out of the wave pool, which was admittedly pretty cool. She liked the water slides, too, though she was somewhat cautious on them until the end of the day (more on that in a moment). But the biggest thrill for her was jumping off of the cliff platform into the eight-foot pool. Of course, she opted for the little platform, which was opposite the 20-foot platform. Nevertheless, she charged off of it with gusto at least 50 times throughout the day. (And may I also add that I saw a teenage girl shriek with fear over jumping off of this particular cliff.) Our little social butterfly also made two different friends at this particular attraction, which was cute to watch from my spot across the pool - at one point Clare looked at me, pointed to a girl, and mouthed, "This is my friend!"
As the day began to fade, and we moved into our seventh hour at the park, we decided to make our way one last time to the water slides. Throughout the day Tim and I had both tried to convince Clare to go down the slide by herself - there was one in particular that was very tame. But it wasn't until this final round that she decided to try it. This might have been because I made a deal with her: if she went down a slide by herself, I'd jump off the 20-foot cliff. What astounded me was that once she decided to do it, she went with absolutely no hesitation whatsoever. Naturally, she loved it and took half a dozen more solo visits (making another friend along the way, one who incited her also to try the faster slide).
Finally, though, we had to pry both kids away from the slides in order for me to make my jump. Clare decided she wanted to jump from her cliff when I jumped from mine. Afterward, Tim decided my jump was not aesthetically pleasing (he mocked me for plugging my nose), so we made him jump, too. Given his fear of heights, I thought he handled it pretty well.
Both kids were loathe to leave, but fortunately there was a Dippin' Dots booth placed by the exit. And by the time they had dried off and eaten their ice cream, I think the exhaustion started to set in. For all four of us, really. Tim and I were nearly as active as they were, and just about as enthusiastic, too. Turns out we all love water parks! Tim joked that it won't be long before they'll be wanting us to drop them off for the day (but we'll stay and have fun without them). For now, we're enjoying that sweet spot where the kids are old enough to have fun with us, and young enough, too.
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