Wednesday, June 16, 2004

I See Pool People!

Vacation Day: 3 of 13

Days Until BB5 and TAR: 20



I think today is Wednesday, but already I'm confused. I'm off of my usual schedule of work and television and whatnot. Since this is my first computer access in two days, I cleaned out a bucket full of junk email. I even read my CAPS LOCK EMERGENCY WEATHER emails from Monday (Actually, I just read the last one and assumed the rest. Something about rain. Go figure).



So, to recap the past two days which I wrote about before they even happened (hee!) ---



Day One - Cedar Point

It was a great day until 4:30 pm. It wasn't terribly crowded, and the crowds weren't horribly annoying -- just the usual amounts. Like all large gatherings of the great unwashed public, Cedar Point is a great place to people-watch. There were large quantities of bad body art, and so many pierced navels, I think my belly button lint was whimpering in sympathy. TinyTuna turned and asked me at one point, "why do people wear inappropriate T-Shirts?" I knew right away she was referring to the one that began "Oh Crap..."



This year TinyTuna turned into the roller coaster trooper. She sucked it up and rode The Raptor -- which is a ski-chair, dangle your legs rollercoaster. She was pretty nervous about the whole prospect, and asked me how many times it went upside-down. Being a good mother, I smiled and told her "once". It wasn't really a lie, it was more an omission of all the other times it went upside down that she couldn't see. The long and the short of the story was: she rode it, she loved it, and (of course) she instantly became a roller coaster expert.



Blue Streak? Piece of cake!

Corkscrew? Sure!

Mean Streak! Why not!



I mean, this kid was strutting through the park like she owned the joint. Of course, we agreed that we would never EVER (CAPS EVERYTHING) ride the Top Thrill Dragster Deathmobile 2000. I watched that thing go a couple times with a MPF you wouldn't believe.



Later we endured the Waves of Thunder Canyon -- "Hey, Lets All Drown In This Gigantic Innertube!" -- Ride, where the dress code for those 18 and under was evidently two doilies and a cocktail napkin folded in half.



I didn't really want to get soaked....So, of course, I got soaked. Karma sat next to me and snickered while I spent the next hour wringing out my shorts.



But, I didn't get a chance to finish, because it was 4:30 pm. And at 4:30 pm, there were no longer three water rides at Cedar Point. There were sixty-nine water rides at Cedar Point, and it was no-waiting in the getting soaked department.



So, we huddled at a food stand for awhile and drowned our sorrows in a Colossal Hot Dog Meal while this really intense thunderstorm scared the BeJeepers out of TinyTuna. As for the Colossal Hot Dog Meal, what can I say? It was indeed colossal.



But the rain, she continued on, so we decided to beat it, and finally made it to the car, soggy shorts and all, and drove to hotel land.



And guess what we did there? WE WENT SWIMMING. Because it didn't matter that we had ridden the drowning inner tube ride. It didn't matter that we stood outside in a torrential downpour. It didn't matter that every piece of clothing we had on was drenched. The only thing that mattered was there was a hotel and there was a pool, and if you have those two things plus a ten-year old, you know DARN WELL you're going swimming, come hell or rain water.



So, a-pooling we did go. I alternated between the hot tub (which I nicknamed "The Lobster Pot") and the pool, where I would return my body temperature to its upright and seated position. TinyTuna splashed around for awhile, and then came over to me as I sat in the lobster pot reading my book...



"You know what I like about swimming in pools all by ourselves?"



"What's that?"



"Well, there are good things and there are bad things."



"Uh-huh."



"The good thing is, that it is nice and quiet, and we can just be alone and have nice calm talks like this."



"Yep. That's nice."



"The bad thing is, there isn't anybody to play with since all you do is sit in the hot tub and read your book."



Remembering my soggy clothing that was drying back in the room, I decided that I wasn't going to take another bullet. I looked up at her slowly and said, "Well, if you're bored, we can always go back to our room and go to bed."



"Oh, no! I'm fine!!" She said quickly and splashed away.



"That's what I thought," I said to myself.



And so it went for awhile longer until they showed up. Father, Mother, and three children. TinyTuna let out a yelp and splashed over to the side, greeting her playmates like they were long lost relatives. The kids jumped in, and an absolutely raucous game of "Marco Polo" began.



I read my book happily.



After awhile I was finally able to drag TinyTuna from the pool. She said goodbye to her pool friend (a girl, approximately her age) and off we went to our room.



Pajamas on, book in hand, five minutes until bedtime....The phone rings.



"Hello?" I answered.



"Uh.....Yeah.....Uh.....I was wondering....."



Good Lord. It was the kid.



".....Uh.....Could uh.....Could You-Know-Who Come to my room and play?"



Evidently they had traded room numbers, but didn't know enough to ask each other their names.



"No, I'm sorry. We are going to bed now. Maybe we'll see you in the morning."



I hung up the phone and Gram looked at me. "Pool People" I said. TinyTuna's eyes got really wide, but I shook my head and told her it was bedtime.



Problem solved.



Day Two -- Pool People

Until the next morning at about 8:00 am when the phone rang again.



"....Uh.....Could uh......Do you think......"



I cut her off at the pass. "We're getting ready to leave soon, but if you hurry, TinyTuna will be in the lobby and you can say goodbye."



"OK!" *SLAM*



Pool People.



The next thing you know, The Pool People have set up camp in the lobby, eating their continental Raisin Bran. TinyTuna has absconded with the last chocolate doughnut, but shows the Pool People the lesser doughnuts left in the bin.



I'm trying to think of a way to get us out of here gracefully. I looked at TinyTuna and suggested that she trade email addresses with her pool friend, thinking trade emails, say goodbye, lose the slip of paper, no harm, no foul...



HA! I underestimate Pool People. Not only do they trade emails, they traded phone numbers and addresses, and told us exactly where they live in Illinois and the fact that they are coming up to Michigan over the Fourth of July and maybe we should get together and HEY if we are going to Washington DC, we should be sure to see the Einstein statue where it echoes back at you if you stand in just the right spot and....



Yeesh. Pool People.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I, too, have been a victim of Thunder Canyon karma. I think the person who least wants to get wet is always the one who ends up directly under the huge waterfall. This theory also applies to the log ride.
Enjoy the rest of your vacation! I'm enjoying the reports!
~Kat~

lifeonhold said...

Pool people! I bet they don't know they made the Tuna News. Funny!