We had never been to Wild Waves theme park before last week. The kids had been asking me to take them for years and I promised them I would take them before the end of the summer. So with the end of summer breathing down my neck, I looked up the hours and prices. I discovered you can get in for only $20  after 4 p.m. in the last three hours of operation.

After my husband came home from work one day I decided we’d go try it out. My youngest daughter was really anxious to ride the traditional rides. Unfortunately, my oldest daughter and I are not into rides that spin, go fast, upside down, or make quick jerks. That left dad.

When we got there, I sent my oldest to try out some of the water rides while I followed my youngest and her dad to the traditional rides. I intended to get some Kodak moments for our family scrapbook.

The two rides my husband was willing to go on were pretty tame, although I refused them myself. One of them was like riding a hang glider and went in circles. The other one was a massive wheel everyone sat on and the whole thing spun and rocked.

It was way too much spinning for me and apparently it was way too much spinning for my husband. My daughter “broke” her father right out of the starting gate and couldn’t talk him into another ride. So we headed for the water activities. I figured a good cooling off would help put dad back together. But by that point he was only good for parking in the shade and watching our stuff.

I was a bit broken myself after standing on the hot concrete in the sun and snapping pictures. I only wanted to cool off and was not interested in sending myself shooting into a tube down a winding water ride. So I took a dip in a pool near where my husband sat recovering, then joined him to wait for the kids to return.

We were both enjoying the fact that our kids are old enough to run around by themselves, when my youngest showed up and wanted to check out more of the traditional rides. I agreed to go with both the girls and find the log ride. I figured it involved water, how bad could it be?

Finding the ride turned out to be the hard part. The map wasn’t very clear to us and the whole theme park is on a hill. All the traditional rides were uphill and since we couldn’t find the ride immediately, we were up and down the hill several times before we found the ride.

After the rather staid log ride, my youngest talked my oldest into riding the same rides she “broke” her dad on.  My oldest was able to ride them once without dire consequences, satisfying my youngest’s need to spin.

We went back to the water activities to check on dad. Although he had recovered, he felt it was too late to get wet. I, on the other hand, was overheated after trekking across the theme park several times. I decided to go on a river ride with the girls to cool down. We went three times. I was cooled off, but my neck and back muscles were beginning to stiffen up with the frantic paddling motion it took to get out of the whirl pools. My husband and I were worn out by our “wild” experience; the girls loved it.

I made the decision last week to take my daughters back to Wild Waves. They both chose to take a friend who was at their stamina level and I had a coupon for up to six people, so everyone was happy. While they rode, I sat in the shade and read a book. We were there six hours and the kids were satisfactorily exhausted.

On the way home, we were telling their friends about our trip to Wild Waves the week before. When we got to the part about how my youngest “broke” dad, she said, “Dad used to be more durable.”

I think my husband’s and my “wild” days are definitely behind us.

Gretchen Leigh is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Covington. She is committed to writing about the humor amidst the chaos of a family. You can read more of her writing and her daily blog on her website livingwithgleigh.com.

Just not wild anymore | Living with Gleigh