Key Lime Cove- A Recap

Being from Illinois, we are hardy souls.  We can drive our cars through snow and slush; we deal with boots, mittens, and hats; and we resign ourselves to being cold and pasty white until at least April (at which time I will just become less cold and less pasty white).

A change of scenery helps, though, and a tropical getaway-- even if it's just to the pretend tropics-- definitely helps. Last weekend, Frank, Jacob, and I went up to the indoor water park resort Key Lime Cove in Gurnee, IL.

Grandma Anna and Grandpa Gary generously offered to stay with Carter that weekend because Carter hates waterparks... and vacations... and anything remotely fun and/or non-routine.

This was our third trip to Key Lime Cove  (See previous trip recaps here and here.).  I think we comment every year about how much easier this year was compared to previous, but really, going with a 5 year old is a breeze.

As soon as we arrived, we put on our swim suits and hit the water park.

This year was the first year that Jacob was big enough for the big waterslides, and also the first year that Frank and I got to enjoy the slides and lazy river.

Jacob...

Frank...

Me!

We had a lot of fun on this play structure.

We played all afternoon, and then went back to the room to get ready for dinner.  Some of the best perks of the resort are the fact that there are so many amenities on-property, and everything can be charged to your room via your wristband.  It is awesome not having to get in the car and be cold again! Going to dinner in sandals is a luxury I haven't had since last summer!

It's like the restaurant knew I was coming!

A nice gentleman at the neighboring table offered to take this picture of Frank and me

Jacob was OVER having his own, personal paparazzi!

After dinner went back to the water park and played on some of the smaller slides and in the wave pools.  This was the first year I really felt like we got our money's worth out of the water park area. By the time we left, we were prunes!

Then we cleaned up (again) and walked around a bit

and found a few souvenirs.

We went back to the room at this point, and Jacob put on his PJs.  I thought he might like going back downstairs to get ice cream in his PJs, and he did! He thought he was hot stuff walking the halls in his "sleepy-pants."

By this time, Frank and I were tired, and thought Jacob would probably crash once we went back to the room.  Oh, how naive we were! When there are beds to bounce on, who needs sleep?!

Finally, around 9:30. we declared lights out.

The next morning, since the pool didn't open until 10, and we needed to leave before then, we went down to play some arcade games.  For the most part, he was content to sit and "drive" most of the games.

Notice the credit in the picture below?  Still a cheap date!

There were some games we actually did play, though.  Frank and Jacob are big air hockey fans

I just loved their intense looks of concentration:

Then Jacob figured out that if he blocked the goal with his forearm, Frank wouldn't be able to score. Little cheater!

Frank is also teaching him how to play ski-ball.

It was a really nice weekend!  I definitely love this tropical, Florida Keys vibe of this resort, especially in the middle of winter.  It was just the getaway we needed!