SORRY FOLKS, PARK'S CLOSED

Because we like to live by the "life imitates art" philosophy, we hear a few particular words a lot.

"Sorry folks, park's closed."
A LOT!

Lessee, there was that time last January or so, where we made big of our upcoming trip to the Children's Museum. Our kids were sooo excited (our Children's Museum is arguably the best in the country) and they couldn't wait to get their hands in the dirt (literally, in the dinosaur dig). We got there and thought, "Wow, Mondays are GREAT! Nobody is here and the museum is all ours." Only part of that sentence proved true. Nobody was there.
"Sorry folks, park's closed."

Then there was this past week. We promised the kids one more trip to a local swim park. Being the procrastinating, "wing it" resourceful mom I am, I had checked out the website and knew (lol, "knew") there was an evening swim this past Wednesday. Perfect. It's stinkin' hot here right now so the evening cool off had great appeal. I shared the plan with Carl, then made sure dinner would be ready when he got home from work, had the kids suited up and packed all the needed garb (towels, a book for me, baby bottles and so on). In a word? Rearin' to go (oops, that's three words.) The kids were sooo excited as we made the short drive to the pool. Only,.......
"Sorry folks, park's closed."

Oops! I got my days mixed up. I knew the night swim was on Wednesdays. Only, we were there on Tuesday (a.k.a. Wedneday in Toni's World). Yeah, OOPS!

So, what's a parent of three disappointed, swim-ready kids to do? Why, go back the next night of course.
"Never fear, kids. Mommy made a mistake. Tonight's not the swim night. Tomorrow is. No problem. Daddy will just bring us back tomorrow night. Right, Daddy?"
(insert big, cheesy "Oops, I did it again" convincing smile here).

I mean, what could he say? So, what's one more day of driving home from work in the scorching heat (hubby's a/c is dead in his truck), gulping down your food so fast that it's an automatic belly sinker (not good when you're headed to a pool), suiting up 3 kids and packing umpteen baby items so you can do it all again. Right? RIGHT???
And that's exactly what we did. Groundhog Day. All the way. You've seen that movie, yes? Where Bill Murray keeps reliving the same day over and over.

And so it was with our swim adventure. For, now it was Wednesday.
The RIGHT day.
Make no mistake about it.
We were there on a Wednesday night.
Just like the website said.
And there were only about five other cars there.
Oh, delight!
"Wednesday nights are great. Nobody's here and the water park's all ours."

Sound familiar? It should. Because only part of that sentence proved true.
Nobody was there.
"Sorry folks, park's closed."
(a la Groundhog Day.)

And that's exactly what the manager said to us. See, our tax dollars fund some really great "stuff" here. Great schools with great amenities, great parks and pools, etc. Well apparently, those same tax dollars do not pay for great upkeep on local websites. Because great balls of fire, they "forgot" to update the website to say that Wednesday night swims are only in June and July. And, as you know, this would be "hotter than blue blazes" August, and well,.....
"Sorry folks, park's closed."

For those who know where I got that line, btw, I could swear I heard a little song playing in the background as we trodded back to our minivan, heads hung low.
"Holiday Ro-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oad. Holiday Ro-o-o-o-o-o-oad."

And I kid you not, as we waited for the gate to open (the one that never did open), our kids played in the palm tree shower that stands in that entry way. And I had to go and make a joke, didn't I.
"You kids are having so much fun in that palm shower, I'm thinkin' we won't need to go inside the park after all."
[giggles and smiles]
"Nooooo! We want to go swimming."
"Aw c'mon. Save your dad and I a buck."

Holla back with me now...
"SORRY FOLKS, PARK'S CLOSED!"

(post script: Of course, if you've never seen National Lampoon's Vacation, half this blog entry won't make sense. Just go with it, okay? Things in Toni's World are often occasionally skewed like that anyway.)

Toni