Weekend Mashup

My parents are moving to New York in a few weeks, so we are trying to soak up all the time we can with them before they go! This weekend we all trekked to the "big city" for the water park. We are a water park loving family, and we try to go once in the summer every year. We'd probably go more if we lived closer.

This year was a blast! The park was the perfect size for us, small enough that we felt comfortable letting our big kids go to the some of the big water slides alone, but big enough that we didn't get bored with what was there. I will say...I wish the slides were bigger, but the kids had a blast on them as they were!

They had a big play structure for little kids, which was wonderful when you have lots of little ones- but my littles mostly loved the lazy river! There was a portion of it that brings you under a waterfall and through a little rapid water and each of my little ones squeezed in delight! Except Piper- she would lay her head on me as soon as she heard the rushing waterfall sound, smart girl.

Morris and Ava both surprised me by loving the big slides! They are usually my reserved, safe kids. But one time down the big slide and we could barely keep them off. I loved hearing Morris laugh at the top of his lungs as he neared the bottom of the slide, and I'm grateful they had an uncle and papa that took them down the slides over and over, and over and over. My big girls too, took a step and went down the slides in single tubes alone! Having bigger kids is a lot of fun, and as I think about the times that we are having now I pray that we will be able to enjoy these things together with them as they are teens.

It would not be a complete trip without  our sweet Adam shutting down the entire children's area by deciding it was a great place to use the bathroom. Yes, it definitely happened, because well, Adam. Lucky for us, my husband already snatched him up and had him in the bathroom by the time it was discovered and shut down, so it saved us from a lot of embarrassment and supplied us with some great conversation topics for later!

We ate a dinner of ice cream sandwiches and cereal, we almost slept in and were of course, in Potter family fashion, late for church the next morning. My kids are already asking to go back, and I'm already daydreaming of next years trip to a different water park. Also I might add, perk to having a large family: we qualified for the group rate which was a decent savings!

We are heart broken that my parents are leaving- but we are truly thankful for these weeks we get to spend with each other and the adventure of road trips, snow and mountains that are in our future!