We sent Daddy off to work after a delicious breakfast of room service. The kids and I didn’t waste any time getting into our bathing suits, and heading out the door, too.
We were on a mission.
Operation: Splash Pad.
The duo love playing in the water, and even though they’d gotten a lot better about swimming with their Puddle Jumpers, there was still only so much they could do in a pool with just me. Splash Pads were necessary for maximum water fun!
Sadly, my research was proving to me that this might be quite the challenge.
In the earlier part of the year, there had been a drought severe enough to inspire a ban on splash pads. While that ban had since been lifted, a new law was created, stating that only splash pads, fountains, or other water features that utilized recirculated water could be flowing.
Lucky for us, one such fountain was located very close to our hotel.
We jumped in the stroller, and headed toward Plaza de Cesar Chavez park. In the middle of the long park, located downtown, is a large open space. We recognized the fountains immediately, but they were now on yet.. I took a quick look and didn’t see any obvious way to turn the fountains on, so I hopped online and read that they would turn on at 11.
It was not even 10. We rushed out of the room, remember?
So, now I had two kids, in their bathing suits, all excited to play in water- and no water.
Fear not- we found plenty of things to keep us entertained.
There were picnic tables, Adirondack chairs, and lots of lawn games laid out around us.
The kids were drawn first to the life size connect four. I won’t pretend that they played for real, but they got such a kick out of putting all the pieces in the giant board, and then releasing them all and watching them fall out of the bottom!
Other games that held their attention were ladderball, giant jenga, and Tic-Tac-Toe.
They played pretty happily until the fountains came on- and then it took a little more convincing to get them to help clean up the mess they made!
Next to me, camped on a picnic table, were a couple of teenagers, with some official looking gear. I believe (thought I didn’t confirm) that they were employees, intended to assist the public at the park. They didn’t really do much of that while we were there.
All cleaned up, we jumped into the fountains. We meaning the kids. They enjoyed running between the fountains, and putting their faces and hands directly into the stream!
As the kids were playing, I started to notice a lot of people with cameras headed our way.
It became clear it was some type of photography course, and I was approached by what seemed to be their teacher.
He mentioned they were, in fact, a photography class, and he was trying to impress upon them the importance of asking permission before taking pictures of kids. My kids, twins, at that, playing in the fountain, was making a great scene for them to capture. Would I mind?
Not at all!
The kids cheesed it up, and I’m pretty sure they got some good shots!
We couldn’t stay too long, since it was getting close to lunch and nap… and I wasn’t willing to give those up!
On the menu- leftovers from dinner, and the day had sufficiently prepared them for a snooze.
After lunch, we were back at the pool. They really had improved,and Z was jumping right in, ‘swimming’ laps. G took a little bit to get used to the water, but he also enjoyed jumping off of the bench and steps to splash a little before floating around in the water.
The rest of our crew met us at the pool, and we all separated to get ready for dinner. We followed a recommendation, and headed to Henry’s World Famous Hi-Life. We walked, which normally wouldn’t be an issue at all, but there was a decent amount of construction, so it became a little more interesting.
What a wonderful experience. We were seated quickly, but even before being seated, they took our orders. You see, they had a very unique system at the Hi-Life.
First, you put your name on the list, and as your name comes closer to being called, they will ask you to put in your order. Once your order (or the majority of it) is ready, you are taken to your table, where they will start serving right away. What a fantastic plan. This meant we could keep the kids entertained and a little more active, while we waited. I had brought some flash cards to keep them busy, and it certainly worked. They were loving the cards. Thank you, Target dollar spot!!
In addition to this creative solution, they were also smart enough to put us in a back room, away from the rest of the patrons.
Service was amazing- we had people cheeking on us a lot- but somehow they found the perfect balance between too much and not enough. Perfect.
Everything was delicious, and we were very happy with the recommendation.
We walked back before dark, and put all the kids to bed, closing the blinds on another wonderful day in Sunny CA! We had one more Daddy-less day! Time to venture out.