Massanutten 2016: Water Logged

I feel like we've been to Massanutten 15 times at this point, but I think I am confusing telling my friends about our ONE vacation there and their vacations I helped plan ;)  The original Stefany 4 went in 2000 (?) for a discounted stay to hear a presentation over breakfast... The one my mom swore she wasn't buying anything... The one that resulted in buying a timeshare... And here we are 16 years later actually USING the timeshare we bought...  All joking aside, it was a great move for my parents.  They have been on countless vacations using the trading option and Laura & I have benefited from the discounted vacation condos too!

But this isn't a timeshare promotion ad.

This trip to Massanutten can best be described as water logged.  The kids probably spent more time being wet than dry.  In the middle of August, that is really the best way to beat the heat.  However, in the middle of August, the pools were quite warm from baking in the summer sun, so it wasn't as refreshing as we hoped.  My kids were eager to show off their newly acquired swimming skills no matter the temperature of the water.

And with summer sun comes sunscreen and baths.  The tub at our condo was so big it was like another trip to the pool!

By far the highlight of this trip was the Waterpark.  This time of year both the indoor and outdoor areas are open.  All 9 of us had a blast riding slides, laying on tubes in the lazy river, and floating in the wave pool... for 5 straight hours.  

This crew got there promptly at 10 AM to be ahead of the crowds

Lazy River Rats

10 minutes after we got there, the fire alarm sounded and we all needed to evacuate.  So much for being ahead of the crowds... 20 minutes later we were back inside with many more people.  There are so many different slides and pools there that the lines did move quickly.

Wave Pool

The only point in the day when Bray had his goggles off.
The signs of them are still there though.

I was so proud of my little swimmers to try out all the body slides.  My kids weren't tall enough to ride any of the inner tube slides, which didn't seem to bother them too much.

100% Water logged

After a day filled with water shooting at us in every direction (my contacts where screaming at me), we calmed things down with a visit to one of the caverns in the area.  Laura and I took the 3 bigger kids with us to Grand Caverns to explore the amazing rock formations underground.  

I think they called this one a jellyfish

The kids topped off their night with one more activity to expend energy, some scootering.

The Stefany clam is accustomed to vacationing together at the beach.  This vacation was a bit more challenging since we are used to the routine of going to the beach all day to entertain the kids.  We had to be more adventurous with our planning on this "vacation".  Nevertheless, it was a fun way to finish off the summer!  Back to school next week for the Hettinger kids.