The Kalahari

We had a great time in the Wisconsin Dells this weekend, at a GInormous indoor water park called the Kalahari! We went with a bunch of people and got a suite with hotel rooms and a common area that had a refrigerator and stove, etc.

The water park was just huge and very reminiscent of the giant water park near our house in California, except this one is entirely enclosed. That means we can waltz around in our bathing suits in Wisconsin in January! It was 14 degrees outside, but it didn't matter, because from the time we got there Sunday afternoon until the time we left Monday evening, we didn't step one foot outside.

There were ten water slides, including two smaller ones that adults were not allowed on. Ellie and our friends' son, who is 3 years old, ran everywhere together the entire time, hand in hand. We went down two family slides, where you can put three or four people in a boat and one roller coaster slide, which was fast and shot water all over you. Ellie HATED the roller coaster one the first time she went down it. I went on my own in a boat behind Greg and Ellie, and when I shot out into the pool at the bottom, I saw Greg standing with Ellie in his arms and her face buried in his neck.

But the next day, she did it again and loved it! What bravery. She was brave later on, too. After everyone else left, Greg and Ellie and I stayed and went to check out the other section of the complex. That section had go carts, a rope course, a climbing wall, a ferris wheel, mini golf, laser tag, and lots of video games. We didn't want to pay the extra $20 a person to do all those things, so we just planned to look around.

But we lucked into an extra wristband and Ellie really wanted to try the rope course. So Greg took Ellie up on this course where you are harnessed into a track system above a series of ropes and bridges and planks. On the upper level, you are very high off the ground, but of course you are harnessed in, so you won't fall.

Ellie wasn't scared at all and was excited to do it, so the lady put on her harness, clipped and cinched her in, attached the rope to her harness, did the same to Greg, and slotted them into the track. As soon as Ellie walked up the first flight of stairs and stood at the first plank, she froze. She wouldn't move. Three people piled up behind her, waiting for her to go. She just stood there. Greg squatted down next to her, had a long talk, then moved their ropes off the side of the track to let the traffic through.

Greg finally got Ellie to walk past the first plank, clutching the railing the whole time. She got to the second part, which was a rope bridge. She stopped again and wouldn't move. People piled up behind her. Greg had to slide their ropes around in the track so that people could pass them. An older guy wearing a reflective vest and a whistle walked across the bridges and planks to them and stooped down to talk to Ellie. There were lots of pointing at the ropes, at her harness, at the bridge in front of her. Ellie clutched her rope and wouldn't move. Finally, the guy with the vest left and Greg and Ellie walked back to the beginning, over the plank, clutching the railing, and back down the stairs.

The lady took off Ellie's harness, but she wanted to try the rock climbing wall, so she ran over there and without any fear at all climbed about halfway up the big wall. That must have boosted her confidence, because when she got back down, she wanted to try the rope course again. So they went back to the lady, who harnessed them both up again and sent them on their way up the stairs with a little slap on Greg's back. Good luck, buddy.

They stopped at the exact same point before the bridge. She couldn't move. Now Greg had the hang of the rope track, so it was quicker to let everyone pass them. Greg put himself out in front of her and sat on the bridge to show her that the rope and harness were holding him up. Except the rope wasn't holding him up--it was just slack in front of him. She didn't believe him. She wouldn't go. It was no use. They turned around and went back the way they came.

Greg wanted to do the course, so he stayed there while the lady took Ellie's harness off and she came and sat with me. As soon as we sat down to watch, Ellie noticed a boy who was hanging by his rope and sitting down in his harness. He wasn't even holding on to anything--just hanging there. "Hey," Ellie piped up. "That boy is sitting down! I was scared I was going to drop, but now I'm not scared. I want to do it again!"

Ugh. Okay. We watched Greg go through the whole course and then when he got back down, Ellie ran up and told him she wanted to try it again. Back to the lady. Harness back on. Clip clip, cinch cinch, clamp that rope on the track, and off they go.

This time, Ellie walked confidently across the first plank and paused for a moment at the bridge. She stepped onto it and started across! Greg gave me a thumbs up and we watched her tackle the bridge. She was off to the third part, where she... stopped. She was scared again. She wouldn't move.

The guy with the reflective vest and the whistle walked up to her again, talked to her for a little bit, pointed to an alternative path that involved walking across a plank, and offered to hold the back of her harness as she walked. It worked! She walked across the plank, over another plank, all the way to the end of the first level of the course! She did not attempt the second level. They walked all the way back across the first level and down the stairs.

She did it! Greg and I were amazed and so proud of her. She was so scared up there that she couldn't move off the stairs at first and she went back TWO more times to try it again until she conquered her fear. Awesome.

We left the Kalahari around 6pm and had to stop for dinner, so it was a long night and we drove back with a pretty cranky kid. Luckily, she fell asleep before we got home, so we plopped her in bed as soon as we got back. Great time!