Those Chapmans – Page 115 – Out Of Their Minds Design

Escape to Boyne Mountain, Part III

Part III of our escape! Would our heroes find something fun to do with the waterpark closed? Would they forget their cares and enjoy themselves? Would somebody’s iPhone finally take a decent picture?

Why yes, yes apparently our phones ARE capable of decent pictures! No photoshop on this, I got three smiles from my beautiful family! This one’s worth looking at bigger by clicking here -> See this image larger.

Nina tries out her… alright I think I’m going to call this the “Baskin Robins” one piece… at the hotel pool! See this image larger.

It was heated, and indoor/outdoor! See this image larger.

Nina had had enough, so it was time to get bundled up! See this image larger.

The shallowest part of this pool was well over Ian’s head, so it was sink, swim, or get a ride. See this image larger.

Considering what I typically feel about pools in general, Ian and I had a blast! See this image larger.

We swam around for what felt like hours… See this image larger.

I tried to teach him a bit about how to float, and maybe a bit of how to trust. 😉 See this image larger.

Eventually we had enough of the pool and checked out the rest of Boyne Mountain. Turns out there’s not much to do in the off-season during the week…

Ian discovered some fake snow… and then we decided we’d had enough of a break. It can actually be a little depressing there in the off-season… had a sort of “The Shining” flavor to it. No, I’m not suggesting you watch that movie. Time to head home! See this image larger.

Inspired by the quiet peace of our trip home, Nina and Ian spontaneously form a band and begin playing tunes! See this image larger.

Ian’s drumming on the baggage, and Nina’s on lead guitar. See this image larger.

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BONUS VIDEO!!! In this video Nina jams on Ian’s guitar, but then tries to jam it in her mouth! Click here to see!
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Escape to Boyne Mountain, Part II

Our first day had been about getting ourselves situated and taking advantage of the Saturday-only attractions. But the next day (November 7th) was our big day at the waterpark!

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BONUS VIDEO!!! In this video Nina calls for Mama, and I try to reassure her that Mommy is going to be there shortly. Click here to see her response in this somewhat longer video.
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But then it was showtime! Nina wore her awesome watermelon one-piece. See this image larger.

We got to the waterpark, time for some family shots! Ladies first! See this image larger.

And then little man! See this image larger.

And finally Daddy pulls off an everybody shot! (Not bad for getting all four of us in the picture!) See this image larger.

The waterpark was huge! I don’t have a good picture of all of it — I do have a video but it doesn’t have any of the kids in it, so forget it. You’ll just have to look at this picture of the central tower. See that mountain at the top? About every 15 minutes there is a warning alarm and then hundreds of gallons of water gets dumped out of the mountain. See this image larger.

So you can probably imagine how that warning alarm struck fear into the hearts of every waterpark guest. Eventually that sound would no longer frighten Ian, but that happened later. See this image larger.

Was Nina afraid of the mountain? Not sure. Here she considers crying after having to see Daddy in a bathing suit, however. See this image larger.

Ian and I took it easy at first on this rapids ride. See this image larger.

And then we worked our way to the top of the tower… (there I showed Ian that we were safe in the tower during the water dump, and he was much more calm about the whole arrangement.) See this image larger.

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BONUS VIDEO!!! Daddy and Ian slide to a landing! Click here to see a quick landing.
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Ian and I went down one of the waterslides together. Suddenly he couldn’t have enough! We went on the slide over and over. Before you ask, YES I let Melissa go on the slide with Ian a few times!!! Eventually we went to a pool area where the water was up to Ian’s armpits. I was surprised when Ian stumbled at one point and went under… mostly I was surprised at how it wasn’t nearly as horrible as my nightmares since he was born. I just reached under and scooped him up. Granted my nightmares usually involve the ocean or something, but whatever, let’s not get into it. We left the park eventually. See this image larger.

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BONUS VIDEO!!! In this video Nina shows how she can shake it! Click here to see!
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That night at dinner I was confronted with this sign. It said one of two things, but I was sure it was my door, regardless. See this image larger.

*What say you bust me outta here and we can go back to the waterpark?* See this image larger.

Escape to Boyne Mountain, Part I

As part of my month-long birthday present, Mommy took the family on a vacation — also thanks in part to our friends Scott and Elena giving us a gift certificate that they could not use. It was a quiet two and a half hour drive north up 131 to Boyne.

As this trip could be described with terms such as “hotel room,” “indoor/outdoor pool” and “water park” I decided not to bring my new camera, so we’re stuck with iPhone pics, sorry folks!

One of our cute pieces of luggage included this adorable little girl! See this image larger.

Our room had its own fridge, as Ian pointed out many times, with or without a camera present. See this image larger.

This is why I love my iPad… Ian needed to sort of calm down and do nothing for a bit, so we watched an episode of one of the shows he likes over WiFi. See this image larger.

Nina bundles up for our post-dinner outing. See this image larger.

Dinner included a one-woman band — Ian was infatuated with her guitar playing, and she noticed him pretty quickly — she flashed a big grin when he applauded before anybody else. See this image larger.

That night, smores by a campfire, brought to us by Boyne Realty… you can live next to a big mountain where it is colder than polar bear spit for just $70,000! See this image larger.

And then a good-night story (provided by the hotel!) with milk and cookies! While we listened and watched, there were two milk accidents, and I’m proud to say that neither of them belonged to my family. See this image larger.