More Losses, but with Happy Endings

For years, we came to this house in Indiana for our annual vacation every August. We even lived in Lafayette, Indiana, for our first year of marriage. Yet, we never tried Indiana Beach in Monticello, Indiana. This past weekend, we made what has become our yearly family visit to Indiana Beach. My ES was wondering when we first came, but we couldn't seem to nail it down. I know our first visit was without ES because my husband and I rode the roller coasters alone. But, it seems too long ago to have been before he was born. Our best guess is that ES was with Grandma. I have a feeling this annual tradition is here for the long haul!

At some point, we also decided that it was better to get a hotel nearby than face the drive at the end of a full day. Two years ago, we even allowed our ES to bring along his best friend, Michael. That was the summer we were in the process of moving to our Indiana home. That year, we got a lovely room at the Best Western which included a small kitchenette. Our MS was just a year and a half and it was nice to have a place to bring him for his afternoon nap. (That was also the year that he got his finger stuck in the door of the van as we arrived and were unloading - he saw a ball in the front seat of the van and reached back at the last minute, just as I was shutting the door.)

This year, we decided to allow ES to bring a friend again. However, when my husband called to make the hotel arrangements, he learned that a legal limit of five to a room would require us to have two rooms for each evening (our plan was to arrive Sunday afternoon, check in, visit IB, swim in the hotel pool, then spend all of Monday at IB and leave the hotel Tuesday morning). This was going to double our housing expenses for this brief trip, so we opted to cut our stay down to one night and I would drive home (since I am a night owl and evening driving is really no problem).

A few weeks ago, we learned that ES's friend couldn't go after all, so we cancelled one of the rooms, but still kept with the one-night stay. I think if we had it to do over again, we would have stayed two nights. We had a wonderful time, but there were a few glitches which might have played out differently if we had stayed two nights in Monticello.

Sunday was a wonderful day. We had a leisurely lunch here and then departed for our drive to Monticello. After securing our things in the hotel room, we headed to IB to walk around, have dinner and play games (this is where the entry fee without rides comes in handy - although I did notice this year that they have added options where you can purchase the ride wristbands for two days at one time and reduce your costs). We had dinner at the Tig'rr Den, which has fabulous toasted cheese sandwiches. The boys chose smoothies this time. I think we'll pass on that next time, since they were syrupy and overly-sweet and really only left you more thirsty (I know because I had to drink MS's, since he wouldn't touch it after one sip).

We were also blessed with a random act of kindness that night. A man approached us and offered us the remainder of a booklet of ride tickets. He said they were leaving and he noticed that our little guys didn't have wristbands. He didn't really have to give them to us because you can use the individual tickets on another visit, but perhaps they weren't intending to come again soon. The ticket booklet is the best option if you don't know whether your small children will actually ride rides or not. Two years ago, we purchased a wristband for our middle son, assuming that he would be a ride enthusiast like his older brother. During the whole day, he only rode the train twice (which, thankfully, I could ride with him while pregnant) and the carousel twice.

It was a real god-send that someone handed us tickets, because I would have now assumed that my YS might respond the same way MS had at a year and a half. But, no, when he saw MS going on the airplane ride, he wanted to go on as well. I was a bit hesitant, since the ride goes up and down as well as around, but YS was very vocal about wanting to go, so I decided to give it a shot. He loved every minute of the ride. Both of the little boys ended up riding three rides together that first night.




We headed back to the hotel and went as a family to the pool. I must emphasize "as a family," because often my husband opts out of the whole pool scene (even though I always pack him a suit, sometimes surreptitiously, in hopes that he will cave and go in). We had a wonderful time in the pool. MS was independent with his floaties on and YS took turns being held by Mom or Dad. ES was preoccupied with the sauna (and I found myself wanting to call Cardiogirl to ask her exactly how the sauna works). He kept filling a bucket with pool water and pouring it over the coals. There were no instructions posted (apart from the warnings about pregnant women and small children). I'm not really familiar with how it is supposed to work and we were quite concerned that he wasn't supposed to be doing that, so we came down hard on him and made him leave the sauna. I tried a few minutes with him and found it unbearably steamy. I'll owe him an apology if he was in the right.

Monday morning, we enjoyed the hotel's continental breakfast and began packing up to load the van. I couldn't find the extra diapers I had packed, so I was thinking we might have to swing by Wal-mart to pick up some more. ES was also teasing MS mercilessly, so my husband sent him down to wait in the lobby (there went an extra set of hands). As we headed out the door, I handed a small bag to MS to carry, gave YS his sleepy bear to carry, and grabbed up almost everything else. This meant no hands free for dragging slow toddlers, so I trudged with them out to the van.

Shortly after arriving at the amusement park, my husband asked where sleepy bear was. Oh, the terror, to be without sleepy bear. My two older children never really had a particular lovey they were attached to. My sister-in-law had encouraged me to give them one, but they never really took to anything, although MS did suck a pacifier and liked to carry around a cloth diaper (but we had oodles of cloth diapers, so one was always within reach). YS, on the other hand, has developed a strong attachment to a little blue Carter's bear blanket which my sister-in-law, Miriam, had sent when he was very small. It had always sat in his crib, but about a year ago, we noticed that he began to hold it in a particular way to get to sleep. He pushes it against his right cheek and inserts his two left middle fingers, up-side-down, into the roof of his mouth, while using the fore-finger and thumb of the left hand to stroke the silk bow at the bear's chin. Here is a picture from back in April, which somewhat shows this uncomfortable stance he favors, though he's not pinching the bow.



We had visions of great anxiety because as soon as YS heard Daddy mention sleepy bear, he began to fuss. ES headed off to ride rides alone. I took MS on several rides (he was even eager to ride the Sky-ride, which surprised me) and my husband took YS back to the van to search for sleepy bear. When they didn't find it in the van or luggage, he drove back to the hotel. My husband said YS was utterly inconsolable. Thankfully, someone had found the bear in the lobby and turned it in at the front desk (hubby said he would have searched the trash there if his efforts at the front desk had been in vain!) From the moment, sleepy bear was retrieved, YS didn't want to let go of him for the rest of the day.

After lunch we took a relaxing boat ride. Hubby was now very fearful that somehow YS would drop the bear over the side. I was hoping the movement would lull him to sleep, but MS wanted to go up top and I couldn't bring the stroller up, so YS merely was restless in our hands throughout the ride. A kind man offered to take our picture. It is a horrible picture of me (MS was mad that I decided to wear my hair up in a pony-tail, but I figured with water and rides, there was no point in washing it and leaving it down). You can see that my husband wore his new head sock (gift from MS) for the day! When I see him with it on, it takes me back to those early days in our marriage. My mother even remembered that he always wore a head sock then. She said, "Oh yeah, he called it a 'dew-rag' and said all the other philosophers wore them, too."



After the boat trip, MS wanted to head to the beach. Unfortunately, I wasn't very clear when I went through the line to get our tickets. We had a buy one get one free admission coupon for the full-day wristband from a local advert. My husband used that and went through the line with my ES. I used my Kroger Plus Card to receive a $5 discount off each ticket (you can also use Coke cans) and I said "One adult and two children under 44' for the rides." By not specifying the beach as well, I actually paid for the morning rides-only wristband. I had thought the price seemed lower than expected.

But, this little glitch was also handled easily. We went to a ticket booth and they allowed us to upgrade all three for just $10. This meant that we now had access to the beach-front until closing (6 p.m.) and the rides until 10 p.m. I decided to let my husband take MS to the beach, while I headed back to the van to attempt YS's nap. Despite the presence of sleepy bear, he refused to go to sleep. After 30 minutes, I gave up and took him to the beach as well (where he loved frolicking in the sand).

Our two little guys hung in there for the whole day. They stayed at the park riding rides clear until 8:30 p.m. (although, they were getting somewhat cranky by the end). Then, my husband took them back to the van, to ride around, while I searched out ES and rode rides with him until the closing.

He loves the roller coasters. We rode the Tig'rr twice (since that is my favorite) and then headed to the Cornball Express. On the first drop, my denim baseball cap flew off my head (I thought I was safe since it has a very tight clasp for adjusting the fit). I was sad. I asked ES if he would mind looking for it. He decided that it probably would be near the train tracks. Sure, enough, he spotted it floating in the water in between the train tracks and the log ride. It was too far away, but he found a stick and retrieved it for me.

All in all, it was a very wonderful day. I highly recommend Indiana Beach to families with children. It has a wonderful family atmosphere. I did think it felt just a tiny bit more commercialized this year (since they are adding a new steel roller coaster, called the "Steel Hawg" - up, but not running - and have increased the number of gaming booths), but it was still a great time, with something for everyone and many options. We always find weekdays to be less crowded than weekends, and there is very little wait time for rides. If you have a camper, there is a Yogi Campgrounds, which might reduce the price of lodging. Plus, I did read at their web-site that they have a day in early June when all the rides, plus hot dogs and drinks are a quarter after 3 p.m., but I don't know how crowded that day usually is.