elfs | Aug. 19th, 2004

omaha and I got the girls dressed and out the door on time, much to my amazement. The day outside my windows was gray and unpromising, with low mist blanketing the airport as we drove past it. Traffic was light, however, and the freeway visibility was acceptable. The girls were so anxious for the waterpark that they behaved better than usual-- and they're usually reasonably well behaved.

Omaha asked me if I knew where I was going. I said I didn't. "Uh, oh. This is Elven navigation, isn't it?" I admitted it was, but hey, we'd been there last year and I kinda knew where it was. As it turned out, I had no problem at all finding my way there. We paid the parking fee. Much to my amusement, we had absolutely no troubling finding

kendaer's shockingly bright blue Saturn wagon and there was a parking space next to it. Having found it, we also found Kendaer,

tabbifli, Alex (whose LJ tag I can never remember), and a new and beautiful addition to this little party, Sierra. After a while,

jenkitty,

technoshaman,

fallenpegasus, Jezel & Aekajin, and some others showed up. It was a regular LJ meetup.

We paid our money and got our lockers and got changed, then went wandering about the "dry" half of the park, waiting for the clouds to burn off. I took the girls on some of the kiddie rides, giving Omaha a chance to be an adult for a while. It was actually kind of fun to do it that way and hang out with Kouryou-chan and Yamaarashi-chan. They were good, taking their turns on rides where they had to be accompanied by an adult, and we worked out way about the big "dry slide", a couple of ordinary amusement rides like a simple up-and-down airplane ride and a little toy train. I am so grateful to LisaKit and Tabbifli, who ocassionally watched over one of the girls while I attended to the other.

After an absurdly expensive lunch, we changed into suits and somehow I ended up with Yamaarashi-chan and FallenPegasus, and we went to the Python, the RiverRaft, and then the RiverRun rides. Yamaarashi-chan had a moment on the RiverRaft when her raft turned over and "nobody" was there to take care of her-- except, of course, for me and Pegasus, who pulled her out two seconds after she overturned. The experience gave Omaha and I a chance to explain to Yamaarashi-chan the difference between "knowing how to doggy paddle" and "being competent in water," since Yamaarashi-chan is always saying "I know how to swim now!"

I met up with Omaha and took Kouryou-chan as well, so it was then just me and the two girls. I let them play in the Pirate's Cove place, which is made for kidlets their size. Am I paranoid for saying that watching them run about such a big, wet slippery place with so many other people and a wading zone twenty meters wide just deep enough to drown a small child made me want an antacid later? Omaha believes so. But they had a blast until they were both chattering and too cold.

I let the girls play in the Wave Pool afterwards, but Kouryou-chan complained that she was cold, so I sat her down on the side, whele I happened to run into Kendaer & company, so Alex agreed to make sure she didn't go anywhere, and then it was just me and Yamaarashi-chan in the massive pool, which suited me fine. After a while, though, it was time to collect everyone and head home. The girls didn't put up much of a fight. They were so exhausted they were ready to fall asleep in the restaurant we stopped at after leaving the park, and by the time we got Kouryou-chan home she was out, and Yamaarashi-chan could rouse herself just enough to walk up to her mother's house and go inside. When I got home, I didn't even check my email; I just collapsed into bed.