Octopus's Garden

It's snowing again, not as much as it has been, but ... well, I thought I left Syracuse behind when I left more than a dozen years ago, but apparently I am being stalked. Either that, or God hates me and wants me to be miserable. Both options appear equally likely at this point.

Some day, I will live in a house with a brightly colored welcome sign like this one. It will be in the Keys or in the Bahamas, after I win the lottery. You are welcome to come visit. I'll set out extra mosquito netting and everything. We'll have rum runners and Red Stripe and conch fritters and french fries and watch the sun set over the ocean. It will be awesome. And while I am dreaming, I would like a pony. And a personal masseur named Sven (if he's Scandinavian) or Carlos (if he's Latin).

I had a hard time taking pictures inside the water park because everything is moving and the light was weird. I have no idea what is actually in focus here. But Shae loved this spot, where there were fountains and faucets and things she could control by turning wheels and pressing buttons.

This lazy river ride was pretty okay, if you don't mind water falling directly in your face, and if you can figure out how to get your butt inside the tubes. When we went on this thing, I actually pulled the tube over my head and walked along the bottom. I wanted to get a picture of Shae and G together, but they only went through once.

We let Shae go on this "big" waterslide -- it was taller and faster than the blue one from yesterday (although it was not, technically, a "big" slide, unless you are almost 3). I liked this one. Honestly, I could have ridden it all day, with her next to me, screaming her head off with joy. It's hard not to enjoy something when you know your kid is having the time of her life.

Detail of some of the decorations. Yes, the place is a little bit "Disneyfied," with the bright colors and the rounded edges and the fiberglass creatures, but you could really do worse than to aspire to be like the Magic Kingdom. I mean, they don't call it "the happiest place on Earth" for nothing, right?

So, again, some more: we had a nice time. We are thinking about going again for Shae's birthday, but we haven't decided yet, since her birthday is right around Easter this year. I have trouble with lots of people, especially when there are so many people running around in bathing suits and Uggs boots all at the same time. It warps my fragile little mind.