Castle Rock Resort & Waterpark

*Unfortunately this post has no pictures because (1) I didn't take very many and (2) even if I had, I don't know where the camera cord is! I will post some once my friend sends me the ones she took on the trip.

This past week was Jimmy's spring break and we went on our first ever family vacation not attended (and paid for!) by our parents! Now we really feel like adults :) We left St. Louis on Wednesday for Castle Rock Resort & Waterpark in Branson, MO. We went with our friends/neighbors whose son Noah is Nathan's age. Our plan was to spend most of our time at the indoor waterpark, go out to eat in the evenings, and possibly do one other Branson attraction. (Let me take a moment to say that Branson really is what you're imagining--a strange place with lots of odd attractions and shows geared for an, ahem, older generation of people. I referred to it as looking like a cheaper version of Las Vegas, though I've never been to Vegas.)

We got there Wednesday early evening, checked into the hotel, and the minute we got into our hotel room (which had a special alcove with bunk beds--amazing!) the boys put on their swimsuits. We went to the waterpark and were having a great time. The waterpark has a few wading pools, one deeper pool, a lazy river, and two water slides one of which is completely enclosed. Nathan was just tall enough for the water slides and absolutely loved them. Isaac wished he could go down, but he was happy enough to go with us on the lazy river or the smaller slides in the wading pools.

At one point Nathan and I were going to go down the enclosed water slide (not together, but one after the other). When we got to the top I saw that the inner tubes I had for us were both for adults and I asked the lifeguard if it would be a problem for Nathan. He said no, and Nathan put his feet down through it instead of sitting on top (he was too small to sit on top). He went down and everything was fine, until he didn't come out. And didn't come out, and didn't come out.....The lifeguard got really concerned and whistled for all of the other lifeguards to come over which meant everyone in the waterpark had to exit the water. I was thinking that perhaps they should turn off the water in the slide because if he was stuck head down water gushing in his face could present a serious problem. There was lots of running around, and I considered going down the slide anyway to free him, but didn't. After a couple of minutes of confusion and delay (any Thomas fans out there? Anyone?) Nathan came out all smiles. The lifeguard was definitely happy to see him and jumped in the pool fully clothed to rescue him :) Nathan said that his his inner tube had gotten stuck and he had to use his feet to free it. His only concern was that bad aliens were coming to get him!

Wednesday night was routine and then Thursday morning we went back to the waterpark. Everyone was having a grand time until Isaac started screaming. I was with him and Toby in a wading pool and he was happily going down the baby slide time and time again. Well, I was sitting to the side so I didn't exactly see what happened but on one of his times down I heard a THUNK and then Isaac cry. When he got out he had blood coming out of his chin. I thought he'd hit his teeth but it was really his chin. Thinking that they probably wouldn't want me cleaning him up with the pool water we went over to our stuff and I cleaned him up with a towel. I motioned to Jimmy who then took Isaac to the lifeguard station. Well, who do you think attended to him? The same lifeguard who'd "saved" Nathan the day before. At this point I was worried we'd be thrown out! They suggested we take him to the emergency room because the gash looked pretty big. We didn't do it right away, but after calling the nurse hotline of our insurance we decided to take him to urgent care that afternoon. Jimmy took him and the poor boy ended up having 5 stitches! They wanted to use the glue that they can use on some cuts but they didn't think it would be strong enough. Jimmy said Isaac was less than thrilled about the experience, but at least this way he'll heal without it taking forever.

Other than those to slightly traumatic things, our vacation was wonderful! On Friday before we left Jimmy and I took all of the boys, including Noah, to a dinosaur museum (and Nathan had gone with Noah's family to an arcade and go carts place the afternoon before). The dino museum provided extreme excitement.....for about 45 minutes. Then we hit the road and came home after lunch. It was nice to get away!