My sister-in-law invited us to Slide Waters in Chelan to celebrate her birthday.  We were happy to go as I’d meant to get there last summer, but had to face facts:  All summer 2008 I was either huge pregnant or had an infant and I considered both disqualifications from true waterslide fun.  So we headed up after lunch.  I was certain that both kids would sleep soundly.  I was proven doubly wrong.  E’s road trip handbook clearly states:  There shant be sleeping when there is the possibility of missing “the tunnel.”  So they jabbered 45 minutes to the park.  The place was packed.  I parked at the first available spot, still a considerable distance from the entrance.  Well, considerable when one is carrying two bags of swimming paraphernalia, a heavy baby and holding a pre-schooler’s hand. 

So we paid our $31.00 and we were off.  Thirty-one dollars.  And there’s the rub.  That was the price for one adult and one 3-year-old.   Fortunately, there is no charge for children 2 and younger.  Yes, I could have lied and said she’s two.  But daily I hear my father’s voice in my head saying “What goes around comes around.”   Then my humanities teacher in college explaining the moral imperitive, “Ask yourself,” she would say, “What if everyone did this?”  So I paid my $31 and vowed to make a budget cut elsewhere.  Goodbye morning chai. 

We stayed for three and a half hours.  At almost one year old, M was happy to splash in the Kiddies Aqua Zoo.  A section that didn’t exist when I was a kid.  I can hear myself slipping into that “back in my day” voice.  The Kiddies Aqua Zoo is the “under four feet” section.  It’s basically playground equipment in shallow water.  It’s well-loved by the toddlers.  It was nice to have a place that M could crawl around and enjoy the water without fear of a junior high giant stepping on him. 

E would have been happy to play the day away in the Aqua Zoo, but enjoyed the slides accompanied by an adult.  She was able to do most of the slides but I think she really preferred the speed of the kiddie and intermediate slides.  She was having fun the entire time so it was, admittedly, money well spent.  Overall, a good time was had by all and we’ll go back again.  My mom used to get my siblings and I Slide Waters tickets for Christmas.  I’m going to have to mark my calendar to remember to do that this winter. 

Next week we’re going to the Quincy Aquatic Center.  I’ll be sure to post my pros and cons and how it compares.  Judging by the websites, I’m guessing that Quincy is going to be the wiser choice for the age group of children I have.  Slide Waters is probably better for older kids and adults.

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