Slidewaters with Zoe

Each year, for Mother's Day, the kids and I do something fun to celebrate. We've gone to the arcade, taken a chocolate tour in Seattle and enjoyed Lakeview milkshakes in the past. This year, the boys and I decided to go whitewater rafting in Leavenworth (watch for that blog entry later this week), but Zoe asked to spend an afternoon at Slidewaters with me, including eating lunch and sharing ice cream.

This morning was chilly, only 68 degrees when I checked the temperature an hour before we were to leave. A few raindrops fell here and there. Cloudy. I had a very long to-do list, and I wasn't super excited about sliding in the cold, shivering and wet in my swimsuit. But Zoe was so excited! She kept assuring me it wasn't that cold, and it wasn't that rainy. In fact, she cajoled, it was perfect water sliding weather. So I decided to be a good mom and have a fun adventure with my little girl.

And we had a blast! We started with a yummy hamburger and french fry lunch (it's a good thing you have to climb hills in order to slide, I'm sure it burned off at least a few of those calories), then tackled the big white slides at the top of the park. I braced myself, worried about that first shock of cold water. But, to my surprise, it felt great! A big swoosh of chilly wet carried me down the slide. All of sudden, I relaxed.

Completely. It was like I was in a little pocket of calm. Nothing to do but let the cool water carry me down the long, lazy slide, around the corners, over the drop-offs, through the tunnels. No control. Just riding the cool water until the big splash at the bottom. Beautiful. Who needs yoga breathing, I thought, maybe I just need to spend more time at the water slides.

Then we rode Tube Blaster, which was not quite as relaxing. The two of us shared an over-sized double tube in bright lime green, Zoe in front, holding tight to my legs. And we decided to scream all the way down. A great big mommy / daughter shrieking, giggling scream, getting louder as we slipped up the sides on the turns, threatening to flip, then rising to a crescendo as we sped under the waterfall and turning to hysterical laughter at the bottom, where we spun around and crashed into the wall.

I can't count the number of slides we went on - or the long walks back up the hill. But I vividly remember lying on our tummies, our beach towels scooted right next to each other, heads touching, while we enjoyed a cup of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream with a sugar cone on top like a clown's hat. What a fun, decadent afternoon!

I'm so glad I didn't give in to the practical "let's wait until it's warmer or until I'm less busy" voice that played in my head earlier this day. It was a fun, quirky, daring afternoon with my little girl, who shows all signs of growing up to be a fun, quirky, daring woman someday. I love you Zoe. Thank you for being my daughter.

Forgot my camera, but Sam took a picture of us after we got back home (see below). It doesn't quite capture the fun and adventure as we were both pretty tired and bedraggled by then (and I had just accidentally poked Zoe in the eye), but it will do.