I want to do it AGAIN! (overcoming at Great Wolf Lodge)

I love water parks, always have. I remember when they were building the first true water park in Cincinnati. I was 15 and, through a family connection, I got a job selling season passes for the not-yet-opened The Beach water park. In the middle of a typically cold Midwest winter, as Christmas shoppers bustled about in the mall, I and my coworkers wore shorts and t-shirts while tossing around beach balls to draw shoppers to consider choosing water park season passes as Christmas presents.

I admit that those really, really tall slides that boast what seem to be nearly vertical drops never have even been tried by me. I prefer my water park thrills to have twists and turns and bounces and bumps, rather than hurtling my body toward frighteningly small pools of water.

So it was with high hopes that we registered for homeschool days at Great Wolf Lodge, an indoor water park in Williamsburg, VA, the first week of December 2010. Our oldest enjoyed every feature of the park. Our middle daughter was pleased to run around with her friends with some level of freedom, but was reticent to try anything more than the medium slides. The youngest at seven, Butterfly, wore her leg braces and bear crawled her way around the park, making a circuit from the wave pool to the baby pool with baby slides to the hot tub and back, under the vigilant watch of one or both parents.

While we considered that first visit to Great Wolf Lodge a success, it amounted to a droplet of fun compared to the great splashes of delight that were in store for us this December! We arrived on Wednesday and were exceptionally pleased with our suite with living room, kitchenette, two separate bedrooms and two full baths. We wasted no time getting ready for the water park.

Immediately, Lizard, at 11, and with a heightened spirit of adventure, began testing her new-found bravery, joining her older brother on the biggest slides. And she loved them!

In turn, Butterfly, now eight, decided she was ready to try the medium slides. These can be found at nearly every water park. They extend from a large playground-like structure, featuring sprayers and buckets of water to dump on unsuspecting passers-by at every bend in the zig-zagging steps.

Feeling protective, Steady Man and I both escorted Butterfly through the maze of steps and rope bridges to the beginning of the first slide. I explained to the lifeguard on duty that while Butterfly can't walk (perhaps obvious to him by the way she had ascended the structure on all fours), she can sit up well. The young man considered for a moment and said, "Put her on!" For a flash, I was annoyed that this youngster, with so little life experience, was so ready to see my daughter go flying down that deadly slide, forgetting that we were the ones pleading with him for her to be allowed that very pleasure.

Having checked myself, I listened as the young man proposed a plan: I was to go down first, in order to be there to catch Butterfly at the end of the slide. Steady Man would go last, so that he could assist her onto the slide. Great! Here I go! Whoa! This is fast! This is twisty! I suddenly had visions of Butterfly being slammed this way and that, unable to hold herself up while water splashed in her face making her feel as if she would drown. Wait! Stop! Don't send her! My mind screamed. If only I had a cell phone, I could call Steady Man and tell him it's too dangerous, but cell phones and bathing suits on water slides just don't mix. My only recourse was prayer. I leaped off the slide and began praying for Butterfly's safety. Praying that she would be able to hold herself up. Praying that she would have fun.

It seemed like an eternity before I finally saw her coming around the last bend in the slide. Was that astonished look on her face from fear or was she merely anticipating hitting the small splash pool at the end of the slide? I couldn't tell. Then wham, she exploded into the pool of water in front of me. I scooped her up in my arms, looked into her eyes and asked what I was desperate to know, "Did you like it?" Her elated reply: "I LOVED it! It was so much fun! I want to do it AGAIN!" My heart cried, "Thank you Jesus!"

We lost count how many times Butterfly went down the two medium slides, lovingly referred to as "the green one" and "the orange one" that first day at the park. Steady Man and I also took turns going down "the big slides" with Historian and Lizard.

The next day, our only full day at Great Wolf Lodge, Butterfly decided she wanted to try the three big slides for which she met the height requirement. These are the kind of slides that require you to ascend stairs to the roof of the building in order to ride them. The first task was to find a way that Butterfly could sit on the tandem inner tube with Steady Man. Compared to Butterfly's tiny frame, that hole was enormous. That coupled with Butterfly's diminished ability, due to low muscle tone, to keep her frame from folding in half, made Butterfly at risk for disappearing through the hole in the inner tube.

The solution was for Butterfly to sit not so much in "the hole" of the inner tube, but rather on the tube portion that was between the front rider's seat and the back rider's seat. Sitting there, with Steady Man's legs supporting her seemed to work, although I couldn't help feeling the whole plan was a bit reckless. At the same time, we have never wanted to tell Butterfly that she can't do things because she has spina bifida. If she wanted to do it, we were ready to take the responsibility for any mishap.

Steady Man climbed the stairs to talk with the lifeguard-on-duty. He was referred to the lifeguard supervisor and, after discussing Butterfly's situation, she approved Butterfly to ride all slides for which she was tall enough. The only caveat, of course, was that we had to get her to the top of all those steps.

I can take credit for carrying Butterfly up all those steps perhaps three times. A couple of guy friends also took turns carrying her up those numerous flights. And Butterfly climbed many many stairs on all fours on her own. But Steady Man... what a dad! Between the medium and tall slides, he must have carried his sweet 45-pound angel up more than 100 flights of stairs. He was hurting, but he wouldn't let it stop his daughter from fully participating in the pleasures of the day. I was in awe of him.

And she loved those slides too! We all did!

These joys, combined with spending important time with special friends, made this trip to Great Wolf Lodge, a highlight of 2011 for the Smith Family.

I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13