The line at Avis was out the door when I went to pick up the rental car this morning. Summer weekends are peak season for car rentals in Manhattan, so not only do the cars cost $200 a day, they're over-booked. But eventually I secured a car, a powder blue monstrosity called a Ford Crown Victoria. (Every time someone blames gay marriage for what's wrong with America, I will silently hold up a picture of the Ford Crown Victoria.)
We picked up chocolate croissants, then hit the West Side Highway toward Fishkill, 75 miles north of NYC.
It was cloudy and only 80 degrees, which meant the lines at Splashdown were reasonably short. We hadn't been there in a couple of years, so we braved some bigger rides: the Humunga Half-Pipe, the Bullet Bowl ("the toilet bowl ride"), and a couple other fast slides. That's one advantage of your kids getting bigger, even as you're wistfully eyeing the pirate ship kiddie area as you walk past.
Splashdown Beach is a relatively small waterpark--I referred to the wave pool as the Barbie wave pool--but that's part of its charm. It's not overrun with high-school and college-age kids, which makes it a kinder, gentler waterpark than most.
Ethan got his first bee sting, which was traumatic for 5 minutes but now seems to be a source of pride.
Afterwards we stopped at Taco Bell for the kids, then at Wal-Mart for Jen.
Adding up the $200 rental car, $120 waterpark passes, $40 gas, $100 meals, and $200 Wal-Mart excursion, we could've bought a small house in Oklahoma. But it was worth it.
P.S. We're counting the $200 at Wal-Mart as a $100 credit, since it would've been more expensive elsewhere. That's a little accounting trick I learned from Jennifer.
