This weekend was the Christmas party for AD at the Great Wolf Lodge. Normally, we spend a Saturday together with all of the families, but this time, the event began on Friday night.I loved the view out the window where we had dinner(and Santa, you were amazing!) Once the kids were all in bed, those of us without young children hung out in the bar sharing stories and laughter. (This was one of my favorite moments of the weekend.) The rooms were "lodgelike" and after I remembered I had to set my iPhone not to powersave for the whitenoise app to function, John and I actually got a decent nights sleep.
The next morning, we went to the indoor waterpark. The waterslides were truly great. (Two of the best ones actually exit the building, then wrap back in.) HOWEVER, the first one we tried--the one I call THE CONE OF TERROR--was truly terrifying. You ride in a raft with others. The first time when I rode it with John, I couldn't even open my eyes, it was so scary. The second time with Courtney and Nancy, I looked. (Hey, kudos to me that there actually was a second time.) I'm not sure which strategy was better.The other slides required tubes. Of those, the "green slide" was the best! I wound up on that one a lot. And you know, the lines weren't bad since we were standing in them talking with friends. (The wavepool also rocked!)
The cabana the company rented provided a nice anchor point to stash gear, run into others, have lunch or get something to drink.
And now for the spontaneous collaborative art piece... As we were standing in line on the stairs that lead up to one of the tallest slides, there was a ledge filled with hairbands. The random circles laid on top of each other creating a colorful pattern on the otherwise boring white space. And so I began to wonder who flung the first one? The second? How many did it take before people began to participate en masse in this spontaneous collaborative art piece?
This isn't the only time it has happened. I remember as a little girl "the gum tree" in line for the Runaway Mine Train at Six Flags over Texas. The oak was covered in a vast array of colored blobs.
And while I'm sure there is some great sociological experiment here, I believe the most significant part is that we do it. (Hey, if I'd had a hairband, I definitely would have participated.) We like to leave our mark. To be part. It connects us with the other strangers that are sharing the day with us somehow.
As for my AD friends, I loved sharing the experience of the event with you. (If we get to do this again next year, let's all bring hairbands.)
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