Our Misadventure

Have you ever had one of those days that just doesn't go at all the way you had planned? Today was my day. Ugh.

I had plans to take the kids to a new park downtown (like downtown in the "big" town, not here). Last week a super huge spray park opened in the park, and the pictures on the news made it look wonderful. I packed a picnic lunch, grabbed a BOGO coupon for ice cream afterward, and headed out for a fun new adventure. Well... it was an adventure.

When we got there, all the parking garages were full. There wasn't any metered parking or any other type of parking available. Traffic was bumper to bumper and at a stand still most of the time. It was miserable. We drove around looking for a parking spot for about an hour. At one point we passed the water park and were amazed at how many people were there. Bodies were shoulder to shoulder. It was crazy! I finally found a $5 lot that still had an opening, although it was several blocks from where we wanted to go. At that point the kids decided it was way too crowded to be fun anyway. So, we found our way back to the interstate and didn't look back. It was so frustrating. At one point both kids were in tears. (Danielle was disappointed. I hurt Tyler's feelings.) I was so disappointed.

We found a place to eat our picnic lunch and decided to visit the local spray park instead. We managed to fit ice cream in, too. But, when we got to the spray park, we discovered they changed their hours this season. They were closed from 1-3pm. Sigh.

The kids wanted to wait, so we waited. Finally, at 3pm, nearly 4 hours after starting out, the kids got to play in the water. They had a nice time, but it took awhile to get to that point!

I saw on the news tonight that there was a march by some children's group at the statehouse regarding the budget today. I am sure that's why things were so crowded everywhere. I just picked the wrong day for our adventure.

Later Tyler said, "Mom, I could tell you were really upset because you said a word you never say!" I cringed and tried to think what I might have said. Almost afraid to ask, I said, "What did I say, Tyler?" "You said, 'GOODNIGHT!' when that car wouldn't turn and people started honking at you. You never say that!" Phew. Thankfully that is about as bad as it gets here.