The view from our balcony
That's right, you heard me...the place we went a couple weeks ago in the Shenandoah Valley (Virginia) is the largest resort in the world. We were picturing maybe a couple hotels and a few condos, with a pool and ski slopes. We were wrong. This massive complex had like 38,000 million condos, 8,700 hotels, 26 pools, etc.* It had a few playgrounds, which Jacob LOVED, and where he almost got trampled to death, probably 6 or so pools (some indoor and some out) and one HUGE indoor waterpark! If you want to know about how cool the waterpark was, you should talk to my 8 year fiance, Jeff. While other children were told to walk around the park, Jeff ran like a goober...everywhere. I'm exaggerating. He did grab our inner tube as soon as we shot out of the gigantic slides, and sprinted back to the stairs to get in front of the other kids who wanted to go down the slides. Keep in mind, Jeff has a minor heart condition, so when we got to the top (approximately 4 stories up) one time, he asked me to feel his heart beating, and it was pretty much pounding out of his chest due to his sprinting up the flights of stairs. This is what happens when you let him loose, and this is also why I am forced to keep a tight rein on him. Anyway, Jacob didn't really like the waterpark even though there was a really cool area for babies, which included the smallest water slide of all times (it was shaped like a frog, and you slid down his tongue), little sprinklers, and baby swings--now get this--IN the water! He hated all of that goodness. He eventually warmed up to the whole thing and walked with me underneath this huge play-contraption-thing, that had ropes and nets, and bridges and slides, and several of those giant buckets that water parks have, which fill up with water, and once they are to capacity, they tip over and spill gallons of water on everyone in a half mile radius...Jacob loved
that stuff...not the baby stuff. He's beyond that. Unfortunately, that was short lived because some kid puked in the water and they had to drain the entire indoor park...HAHAHAH! Luckily, this sprawling compound also had some outside components, so we could still play for the rest of the afternoon elsewhere. I know this post is going on and on, but these are all details that I think the public deserves to hear. Jeff also found a giant slide
outside that he loved. He made me go a couple times with him, so he wouldn't be scared, or feel threatened by the 9 year olds that were "racing" him down the slides. Four people went each time, and you "raced" the others to the bottom, head first, on a mat thingy. Jeff took great pride in having beaten all the little kids, every time.
Here are some pictures of the water park, sorry no pics of Jeff and me, you can thank Jeff for wearing a bathing suit not suitable for online posting.
*NONE of these numbers are accurate.
Trying to escape early on
He can't believe Daddy would be filming this torturous scene!
He has given up at this point and is resting
Happily throwing handfuls of mud/sand in the river...not minding at all that his saggy bottom is in the water
Not so happy, after he ate a handful of mud
He climbed up on the bed to wake up the elderly from their nap
Jacob helped with the potting of the plants
Jacob indulges in the first of many strawberries
Mommy and Jacob with all their loot from the afternoon--notice Jacob's red stained mouth
Big and Little Thump at VMI
The raincoat that Stonewall was wearing when he was shot in the civil war
The big main building at VMI, with the Stonewall statue and original civil war canons
It was only 123 degrees this day, so why not give Jacob a ride on the old shoulders?
Looking for the ball
Jacob placed his entourage, and then took a seat, and "struck a pose"
The view from our balcony
