The Poe Family Blog: Zoombezi Bay 2014

Last Tuesday was our annual family trip to Zoombezi Bay. This is the fourth year we have gone. It's always something that we look forward to. It's also a crap shoot in terms of the weather. The three years prior were good. Last year was a little colder than we would have liked, but not bad. This year had me super stressed out. For the two weeks prior to the day of our trip, the weather channel app had the chance of rain ranging from 60% to 30%. I think the actual day of the app said 50% chance. We figured either way we should make the most of it. We had a cabana booked and Scott took a vacation day, so no backing out. That morning we loaded into the car and just down the road from Zoombezi it started to lightly rain. No big deal ... we would be getting wet anyhow. Pull into the parking lot ... torrential downpour for a good 15 minutes. It lightened up some, so we decided to brave it and head into the park. It sprinkled a little bit while I was switching our cabana reservation (I had gotten one by the wave pool, but decided that since Neko and Robbie were going to be with us as well, that one by the kids area made more sense). After that I don't think it rained. It was a little cold at times if the breeze was blowing and you weren't in the water, but all in all it was a really nice day.

So now that I gave a run down of the weather, lets talk about the actual fun we had. Our niece and nephew were staying with Scott's mom and step-dad for the week, so they got to join in on the Zoombezi fun. We decided to start out by taking Zoey on the one big ride that she could do (I seriously can't wait until she is taller and can do some other stuff). Neko wanted to go with us, but Robbie said he didn't want to do big slides, so he stayed in the kids' area with Bev and Leland. We took the lazy river over the the area the slide was at, which allowed Zoey to get comfortable in the water and know that she could touch. I will say, I was nervous and had a mild anxiety attack while climbing the stairs. I'm not really sure why. Anyhow once we got up there we piled into the raft, which is big enough for five. The slide is called the Tahitian Twister and for the majority of it you are in the dark. The first time we went down I ended up going down backwards, which makes it a bit scarier I think. Zoey loved it of course and wanted to ride again, so we went for a second ride. (This time I got to go down forwards).

The blue and black one is the one we went down

Scott took Neko on some of the bigger slides that she was tall enough to go on but the other kids weren't and Zoey and I took the lazy river back over the the cabana to wait. Bev and Leland mentioned that they wanted to go on some of the bigger slides, so I volunteered to look after Robbie and Zoey. Wow, what was I thinking? I took them over to Baboon Lagoon and figured I could keep them both with me. Well, I hadn't been to that area yet and it had been remodeled since last year, so I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Robbie was content to go down the little slides right at the beginning of the structure, but of course Zoey wanted to go and explore all over. Well I couldn't leave Robbie and I wasn't going to let Zoey take off without me, so I made them go back to the cabana where I could wait for reinforcements.

Drenched!!!

Robbie was content to lay down and get some sun

Zoey preferred to dance

Once everyone got back to the cabana, we all headed over to Baboon Lagoon. I was not happy when I learned that the changes to the kids area did away with the slides that you could go down with the kids. I didn't think that Zoey would have as much fun because when we went to Maui Sands in April, Zoey wouldn't go down any of the slides because one of us couldn't go with her. Well, that was not a problem at all here. Zoey went down the slides by herself with no hesitation. She loved them. The one thing I was not a huge fan of is the fact that all the slides end underneath the middle of the structure, which is impossible to see unless you are under there as well. Zoey isn't coordinated enough to get out of the slide pool herself, so someone had to be there to help her out. That meant that you got soaked as well. There was no way to avoid it. Whenever someone sprayed one of the things by the slides and especially when the bucket dropped, you got soaked. I ended up ruining my camera because it got drenched as I was trying to walk out from underneath the slides. Oh well, I needed a new one anyhow. LOL!

This was Robbie's favorite slide. He went on it again and again

This was probably Zoey's favorite slide

The bucket drop. Neko is in there in the pink suit

Robbie and Neko

More of Zoey

A picture of Baboon Lagoon from our cabana

After some fun at Baboon Lagoon, we spent some time in the lazy river. Zoey loved the fact that she could touch. We also headed over the to wave pool. That was a good time as well. Zoey thought it was tons of fun when the waves would hit her. Once we had our fill of being smashed by waves, we decided to take Zoey and Neko back on the big slide. Well, Robbie had built up the courage and wanted to go as well. So Scott and I took all three kids. Going down it was hard to tell how Robbie was doing since it was dark. Once we hit the light I looked at him and her looked absolutely terrified. However, when we hit the pool he said he wanted to go again, so I guess he liked it. The second time we took Zoey and Robbie and Neko rode with Bev and Leland.

After all the sliding fun, we figured we better grab some lunch, so we headed back to the cabana. Zoombezi actually has some pretty good food and you get a discount if you rent a cabana. The kids enjoyed chicken tenders and fries. Scott and I had burgers.

I made Zoey take a selfie with me

After lunch and some time to let our food digest, we spent a little bit more time in Baboon Lagoon. By this time, it had gotten a little bit colder and I was shivering standing watching Zoey go down slides, so I suggested we go to the pool area of Baboon Lagoon. It is heated and felt SO good. Zoey really built some confidence during the day and was paddling (with her life jacket) back and forth between people. I also made a little bit of progress in teaching her to blow bubbles in the water.

After a fun filled day, we headed home. It turned into a really great day. Boy were we worn out though.