Cowfam Stay-cation 2012 (Ep. 1)

Well, we did the summer road trip, and it was awesome. This time around, while my husband assured me that he had worked the system to his advantage and had scored us a ten day cornucopia of family time, I took the road well travelled (read: we've been here before, and there are no primroses on that path) and went ahead and assumed that my husband lives in a charming, delusional little version of reality.

I, on the other hand, live in the harsh climate of Cowfam reality, which is to say that I was overjoyed when J announced that - unfortunately…things didn't quite work out….blah blah blah - he had 4 whole days off in a row!!! Weeee!!!! And after briefly considering another whirlwind getaway, we settled on the stay-cation. Specifically, the Entertain-the-Pants-off-of-E-Stay-cation-of-Champions! 

Day 1: Mont Cascades

Of the two water parks within easy driving distance of Ottawa, we decided to start off with Mont Cascades. A bit older, less flashy and a whole lot less expensive than uber-park Calypso, it's still about 32 million miles cooler than any water feature E has experienced in her short little life. We did everything that wasn't prohibited for the under 48" set, including the Pro Racer, where we sent our little baboushka flying face first on her very own mat, with nothing but her own iron grip on the handles to save her from certain death. As it turns out, the biggest threat was a raging case of plantar warts on the rider in front of her, but thankfully mom and dad had invested in water shoes.

We slipped, we slided, we climbed, we splashed, and when we had worked up enough of an appetite, we dined on lobster and hot dogs. Not a bad way to spend a morning. Not even the nap gods could muster up enough energy to thwart us - after falling asleep in the car for almost an hour (showing flagrant disregard for RULE NUMBER ONE), we were able to successfully transfer her to her bed, where she slept for another hour before bouncing out of bed, ready for Round 2. That has never, in the history of children, happened anywhere.

We spent the latter part of the afternoon and early evening at our neighbours house, eating meat on a stick and watching E perfect her skill as the best big sister ever to 6 month old Dominic and 1.5 year old Hudson. The ladies talked about diapers and growing vegetables while the men drank scotch and examined the newly installed air conditioner. It was all very Mad Men.