Waterpark Hooky

Today was my annual "take a summer Friday off to go to a waterpark with my kids" day.

As you can see, we went to Camelbeach, and we took a couple of extra kids for ballast in the car.

Some observations:

• It was nice having Elyse and Aaron along. We have known them for so long they are honorary family members. It was fun to watch the four of them bobbing up and down together in the wave pool.
• Camelbeach's wave pool has stronger waves than Hurricane Harbor's. They hit you every five seconds with full force. Hurricane Harbor's are more gentle and rolling. We decided we like Camelbeach's slightly better.
• Camelbeach played country music over the loudspeakers. Hurricane Harbor would never play country music, unless it was sung by the Beach Boys and featured a steel drum. Still, I gotta say, for a waterpark?--I'll take Beach Boys.
• Aaron has been away most of the summer. His hair is longer and he looks like he could be a member of One Direction. But he is still sweet, shy, polite Aaron underneath the boy-band bangs.
• At one point Ethan and Aaron were laughing hysterically about something. Aaron was practically snorting. God forbid Ethan should crack a smile in a photo and put his angst-ridden persona at risk.
• Samuel's food intake today consisted of a bagel with butter and honey, a strawberry Nesquik, a waffle with chocolate sauce, a black-and-white milkshake, and--on the way home--another milkshake, from DQ.
• Ethan's was healthier, as it at least included pizza and chicken nuggets.
• Elyse spent the car trip telling us about her obsession with the actress from the Broadway show "Newsies" and asking us to analyze her dreams, most of which featured the actress from "Newsies." 
• Ethan spent the car trip writing comic strips and trying to get Elyse to read them.
• It is fun to be a dad. There is really nothing like seeing your kids happy. Really nothing.