The allure of the lazy river

Sorry that I've been quiet for a few days. I've been immersed in first-week-out-of-school activities and our days have been so packed that all I can do is drag my butt into bed every night and pass out. (Thank goodness So You Think You Can Dance took a week off, because I wouldn't have been able to stay awake to watch the whole show.)

One of the things we did this week was visit a local outdoor water park. You know, the kind with the wave pool, rickety water slides, funnel cakes, music pumping at an obscene volume and people wearing bikinis who definitely should not be. But the feature that was most popular with Ella and her friend was the Lazy River. Yup, that sluggish channel of water that goes round and round and round. It was the same thing when we visited Great Wolf Lodge in the spring - we literally had to drag Ella out of the Lazy River.

As I floated peacefully in my inner tube watching the girls swim and dive and play like dolphins round and round and round, I tried to figure out what the appeal was. I think it's a combination of: the perfect depth (for six-year-olds), the constant depth (so no unexpected deep end drop offs), the current that makes you feel like you can swim faster, the enclosed space (so you only have to focus on going forward) and the fun of bobbing and weaving around brightly coloured inner tubes.

To be truthful, I quite like the Lazy River, too. Unless it's super crowded, it's fun to float along and people watch, or paddle gently while feeling the sun beat down on your shoulders, or do some dolphin dives and feel like you're a kid again.

So while Ella and I may disagree about many things, we ended our day at the water park agreeing about one important thing: we need a lazy river in our backyard.