Today was not our first time to the Schlitterbahn, the amazing water park in New Braunfels.  But it was our first time to go with Claire fully able to swim and Molly kind of able to swim (both thanks to many hours at Emler).  Kit had the week off, and I took a couple days off too.  We departed our house a little after at 8:00 am on a Wednesday with the purpose of getting there before it is (1) crowded and (2) hot.  Or at least before it gets really crowded and hot.  Actually, Schlitterbahn provides lots of shade and of course water, but we still wanted to put things in our favor with an early start.

We spent most of the day in the newer, eastern part of the park for a change, mainly Blastenhoff and Surfenburg.  Claire was able to handle herself pretty well in the water, much better than last time we came a year or two ago.  She absolutely loved The Torrent and found it difficult to leave.  The Torrent is a large circular “lazy river” type of ride combined with a wave pool.  Most people ride in a tube, but Claire and I both favored a free swim approach.  We also tugged Molly along in her tube.  Molly was thrilled and all smiles until the the fifth time through, when she said did not want to go again.  Claire was a little bit heartbroken to leave her beloved Torrent.

Molly’s favorite was Han’s Hideout, a 4-story really drippy pirate boat featuring several small, kid-friendly water slides.  Han’s Hideout was custom made for Molly.  We all liked Kristal River and Kristal Cove, a basic wave-free lazy river that we got to float or swim around many times.  Molly even did a little bit of (closely supervised, very brief) free swimming here.  Kit is not a big swimmer but did her best to have a good time at this crazy water park.  She did get stuck with all the bathroom trips for the girls and tended to get stuck watching Molly play in the little-kid areas, which is just not as much fun as splashing around in the Torrent.  Kit made sure we had a fully stocked cooler and a good picnic table in the shade.  We definitely got some smiles out of Kit on Kristal River, too.

By the end of the day, it was finally hot and crowded, and we were all getting exhausted.  Claire started to seem just a little less safe in the water by herself.  We’ll have to come back next year when she is rested up to take a fifth turn at The Torrent and Molly can do a little more free swim.