Kid friendly Calistoga

As previously discussed, I pretty much love going to Calistoga to hang out by a pool or get a massage. The added benefit of friends and good food make it simply divine.

A friend mentioned that she had taken her kids there. I had thought that the kids would love the warm pools, but the place we go to isn't very kid friendly and I would be too worried about them bothering everyone there. So I asked her where she went and booked it for a night. An experiment of sorts. Could we all enjoy a trip and all relax or would it be all work and worry for me (Michael couldn't go due to work and our camping trip next week.)

Yesterday was the day so after swim class and camp pick up, we drove up there. It's a short drive (just over an hour), but the last 10 minutes through St Helena is hellish.

We arrived early, but our room was ready so we got settled and got to the pool quick. And when I say pool, I mean 4 pools. A wading pool, a soaking pool, a lap pool and a hot tub (for adults only). The kids went from pool to pool putting on vests and taking off vests. I was still worried about all the people getting splashed and all the noise my kids were making, but no one seemed bothered. There were people there with young kids, but none of them could swim like mine. Almost everyone stopped me to ask how old they all were. When Parker swam across the bottom of the pool in one breath, he literally got applause.

It was a tad stressful for me to keep enforcing all the rules but the kids did very well.







Of course we had to have ice cream from the snack shack convenient located 10 steps from our room and the pool.





After a few hours swimming, we took showers and walked into town (2 blocks away) and had a lovely mexican dinner followed by a quick stop at the candy store (where Parker picked a red vine, Elizabeth picked a peppermint stick and Miranda picked Andes mints. It was probably one of the most relaxing kid dinners I've had as they all colored and drew the whole time while I ate the whole time.







Back at the hotel, we swam some more which the kids thought was just awesome and then went in for bed. Everyone got to talk to Daddy and then we read a couple books and everyone fell asleep. Since we only had one room, I read a litte bit and then fell asleep at 9:30.






The girls got the camera when Parker was talking to Michael. Here are the highlights.






Everyone was happy in their sleeping bags. Miranda fell out of the bed on top of Elizabeth in the middle of the night and Parker scooted clear across the room, but neither interuptions caused major problems.




The pool opened at 8am. Elizabeth and Parker were up by 6:30, but me and Miranda got to sleep until 7am when Parker announced it was breakfast time and stood by my face saying, "It's 7. It's 7." The kids swam in each of the pools for a couple hours. Elizabeth perfected her flip. Parker perfected his handstand and Miranda perfected her silly face. Surprisingly, they all chose to draw on the way home rather than watch a dvd. It was a good short trip and one that I look forward to doing again...with another adult.