The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Fills Your Heart & Lifts You Up
June 17, 2013-TCS # 360
So, Last Week, Over 3 Days (including Newsletter Day), I had quite an Adventure. You See, I got News the Week before of My Dad coming to town for a couple days to Vacation at Great Wolf Lodge with Everyone, meaning Laura (Dad’s Girlfriend) who I should mention that I have not seen in 8 Years, My Half-Brother Taylor who, I last saw, again, 8 Years Ago, and My Dad. So, those who are wondering, I stopped going to visit them in San Antonio 8 Years Ago for My Own Reasons. But, Anyway, My Dad decided that it would cool to Vacation up here in Dallas, considering it was easier for everyone. I wasn’t that excited but, I figured that it would be something to do and to get out of The House for a while. Now, on Great Wolf Lodge (They are a Respectable Hotel, By The Way), I have only been there one time and that was to check it out because it was new. Little did I know, both the First Time I walked through it, when My Mom and I went for one of our drives or This Time, it is Very Big, Very Noisy, and Very Overstimulating. I should mention as a Note that this is a Kids Haven. I remembered it but, also haven’t done the whole experience because it is so Over-stimulating! So, I finally got up the nerve to go there and it wasn’t easy for Me. When we got there, We met them at the Big Inside Waterpark, I’m told that it is the Largest One in The Great Wolf Line. This place was Awesome though! I mean, Yea, It was REALLY Loud (and, it was something I had to deal with later, which took Days to Recover) and Alot of Kids Running Everywhere. We figured that we start with Some of The Famous Slides. First Up was the “Howlin‘ Tornado”, which I had never been on one of those types of Rides. First, You get on this Four-Seated Tube and Start Going; Next, it turns pitch-black and then, you see a big drop; The Big Drop comes and go into this See-Saw like Ride and then, it takes you down the tunnel and Out. The Next Ride is what we all affectionately called “The Toilet Bowl” which was you got into a two-person tube (or one person tube) and went down the slide into a “Toilet Bowl” and then, went around several times. If You were lucky enough, you go down the slide after The “Toilet Bowl” section backwards. After That, we jumped between The Indoor and Outdoor Pools and went on “The Tornado” and “Toilet Bowl” several times. Out of all those rides, I believe the “Toilet Bowl” was My Favorite. Anyway, After we got showered up and Ate Dinner (which was late all 3 Nights), It was time for a game that probably was the most Over-Stimulating called Magiquest (Pronounced “Mag-I-Quest” as I was corrected many times!) Anyway, This Game of Magiquest required you to buy a Wand and Quest, which was $64, just for reference. And, You wave the wand at certain objects on all 8 Floors of The Hotel and they speak to you or make some kind of Noise. They have a good exercise program for The Kids being that You have to go up and down the Stairwell along the Quest. They named all the floors based on what is on it or just a Creative Name. By The Way, If You go on the elevator with the wand on, You lose Points. Luckily with all the kids running around, They have a thing called “Hibernation Hours” which were from 11:00PM to 7:30AM, and anyone under 18 couldn’t wander the halls without an Adult. But, Those “Hibernation Hours” helped because The Parents don’t have to worry about their kids being up all night. On the 2nd Day, We went on a “Local Excursion”, First we saw My Brother’s Mural that He and his team of Artists did which I am Extremely Proud of Him for, at His University. After we had Lunch at The University; We drove to The Gaylord Texan, which is always My Favorite Place to show visitors who come to Dallas because it too is really big, but a Texas-Sized-But-Not-Overwhelming-Big like The Great Wolf. For Reference, The Gaylord Texan is more for Adults while Great Wolf is for Families with Little Kids. It is also the Texas Version of The Gaylord Hotel Chain. Anyway, After That, My Brother and Taylor wanted to go Rock Climbing, so it was that next. Now, I’ll tell you I have never seen My Brother rock-climb before This Vacation, But I’ll tell you My Brother, Michael is a Fast and Very Skilled Rock-climber but, then again, he was been doing it for quite sometime and He does really awesome at it. So, When climbing walls, it is important to take the job of “Spotter” seriously, so the climber gets up and down the wall safely, unfortunately, this time, the person that was spotting Michael, lost her grip and Michael fell 12 Feet. It is very scary for all of us watching and it really distressed me. Luckily, My Brother is Okay but, he is just stiff and sore. The Time that I noticed that I was Over-Stimulated the most and couldn’t process was whenever we were on The 1st Floor named “The Waterpark Level” or as I referred to it, as “The Activity Level”. Just to Name things that were on the “Activity Level” was The Dragon’s Lair for MagiQuest (which was interesting to watch), An Arcade, A Kids Spa, Food/Snack Place, The Magiquest Shop, Laser Frenzy/XD Motion Theater, and Of Course, The Waterpark. My only Favorite part of that Floor was Ice Cream made by a Robot called “RoboFusion” which I had to Have. Talk about A lot of Stimulation! You could walk down the hallway of “The Activity Level” and see at least 10 Kids having Meltdowns, there was that much! So, It was a fun Vacation, but Way Too Overstimulating for Me! I know I will never go back, I’d rather have The Peaceful Gaylord Texan Personally. Though, Not that I want Kids, but If I had kids of My Own, I would not take them there, but that is just me. After I got home and Life started to finally catch up with Me, I just lost it because I was so overstimulated and My Mind was still processing, What On Earth just happened? I needed to hear a soft song and My Choice was The New Zealand National Anthem. Plus, Lack of Routine or Predictability, Seeing Laura & Taylor for the first time in 8 Years, and Out of My Comfort Zone really did not help at all. All in all, trying to trying the Good in Everything, My Mind shut down and I saw it as Fun but, I didn’t like the meltdown and readjustment after. This is something that I reflect back on for the PTLS Conference 2012 when It was getting overstimulating me and one of the older PTLSers, We left the Lunch Table to find a Quiet Place to Calm Our Minds. Yes, A Lesson Learned about the Limits of What I can and can’t handle. Let me just say that It annoys and makes me sad that My Brain gives me these limits on Sensory Issues going in Me. It makes me feel Excluded, like I can’t do things that Everyone Else because of My Processing.
Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. As much as the following saying Annoys Me; for the love of goodness, “Know Your Own Limitations”
No comments:
Post a Comment