It's that time of year again! Lake Chelan! I swear, it is something the kids talk about at least once a week. It can be the dead of winter and one of them will bring up Chelan. I've been going to Lake Chelan since I was young and I love that my kids have been doing the same, too! We had so much fun last year with all four kids and were really looking forward to this year, too!
We stayed in the same hotel,
Grandview by the Lake, but this time we stayed in a part of the hotel where there are privately owned units. These people who own the units rent them out during the summer so it is more of a condo-type feel. No room service or daily cleanings. The room is yours for the duration of your stay! In a lot of ways we like this better. Sure, we had to clean a tad bit more but there was no one interrupting the flow of your day!
The car ride over there was pretty quick. I think it only took door to door 3 1/2 hours! Emily didn't nap which wasn't too great but we survived and that is all that mattered! As soon as we pulled in, the kids wanted to go in the pool and the lake. Surprisingly, they wanted to go straight into the lake! Emily and Matthew were in life jackets so we felt really safe about all of the kids situations. Down the slide they went, one at a time, and started off the vacation right!
We spent the entire first day in the sun. Into the lake, out of the lake. Into the pool, out of the pool. And the cycle just repeated itself over and over and over! It was a blast! The kids were having such a great time and it felt exactly how I imagine summer should feel. We barbecued the first night and it was just the perfect end to a perfect day.
Day number two, was much like day number one. The one exception was that it was Jill's Birthday! We swam most of the day and then had a great birthday dinner for her by the lake. Jake had gotten all the kids candy toilets. That's right. Candy toilets. The plunger was a lollipop that fit perfectly into the toilet with powdered candy. They were all hyper after that and hit the sack without any problems!
After dinner, all six of us swam out to a floating dock. It was here where we taught Michael and Claire how to do a back dive! They did awesome until Michael landed wrong in the water and started crying followed by Claire getting into back dive position and then basically dropping back first onto the dock. Time to go in and call it a day! I would like to add that by the end of the trip, Natalie did her first ever back dive, which she said she would never be able to do! It was awesome!
The following day, we got up early and went to church. We did a quick Starbucks run and then headed back to the hotel to change for the water park!
Slidewaters is so much fun! I know for sure that it holds a special place in all of our hearts and we just love it there! We were anxious to see how Emily would do this year as she would be big enough to actually ride the rides. Holy crazy lady! She loved it more than I can describe!
Matthew felt like such a
big guy and was so happy to be able to go on the big rides alone. He did ride in our laps on a coupleof the bigger rides but I am pretty sure it was out of pity. The kid loved it!
Michael and Claire had so much fun but their highlight had a lot to do with the tube ride. My Mom took Emily and Matthew and told Damien and me to go with Michael, Claire, Natalie and her friend, Claire on the ride together. It was out of this world fun! Since we were young we've decided that the way to win on this ride was to be the last one down the last slide and into the pool. There are a series of slides which end of dumping you into these little pools. Then onto another slide and into another pool. There are about five slides and we all try and kick, push, shove each other down and it leads to a lot of near accidents and laughter. Well, this time- my Claire had to go down the last slide sans tube. Michael came down and hit her tube so hard that it popped her tube our from underneath her and left her standing and wondering what to do next. The final time we rode the ride, I ended up crashing down into the last wading pool, being flung from off of my tube, and going down the last slide head first. All the while not knowing what direction was up or down. It was frightening but also hilarious, too. My Mom and the rest of our group was actually watching it as it all unfolded. Priceless. Too bad we didn't get it on video!!
We celebrated Morganday's birthday that night after the water park. We swam at the pool until dinner arrived poolside. My kids begged and begged to get back in the water. I couldn't believe they weren't a little tired of it yet! There is a really cool slide at the hotel. It looks like a giant rock slide and the kids are totally drawn to it. Problem is- if you don't go down the slide with a tube, you almost have to scoot off and it is a really rough texture. Not sure who the engineer of this slide was but I want him/her to reimburse me for the three swim suits that had holes in the butts when we left and had to be thrown out! No joke. Also, just for memory's sake- Damien might have thrown Natalie into the pool while she was wearing clothes (not a bathing suit). She might have also had her cell phone in her pocket. Discuss.
On our last morning, after coffee of course, we packed up and went down to the pool for one last hurrah. We ate all of the food we had left over in our fridges and just tried to soak up the last bit of sun before we headed home. While eating lunch, Claire found and orange that when peeled, had another orange in it. You would have thought she had won the lottery!!!
All four of my kids were crying as we got in the car to leave. Lake Chelan, you are loved. Hopefully, we will see you again next year!
I love that she came up with her own measurement of love. Even though it isn't the traditional measurement most of us use to show how much we love one another, it is somehow perfect coming from my little Emily.
