Last weekend was random and hilarious. We decided to meet up with our friends Bryan and Michelle and their boys Elliot and Bennett. They were coming from Chicago and we discovered that Indianapolis was a 3 hour drive from both Columbus and Chicago. PERFECT! The destination had been decided.
So what should we do in Indy with 4 kids under 4? An indoor water park at a hotel was the obvious choice. After some googling, Michelle and I decided that we didn’t love the hotel where the water park was, so we checked into a hotel down the street and drove over to Caribbean Cove on Saturday morning after a delicious hotel breakfast. Elliot and Ruby were fascinated by the fountain in the hotel lobby. I’m still amazed no one fell in.
Clara was fascinated by the phone in our room. She’d never seen one with a cord before.
From the outside, Caribbean Cove looks mighty bootleg, but once we were inside, it was pretty great and the kids had an amazing time splashing around and climbing on the pirate ship playground. I tried to get some pics, but the elements were against me. My lens was foggy, there were only windows on one side of the room, so the kids had to be facing exactly the right direction for a good pic and so much water was splashing and sloshing on my camera that I’m not even sure how it survived the day.

Ruby and Elliot weren’t tall enough for the water slides, and pregnant people aren’t allowed either… but Ryan and Bryan took to the slides and were pleasantly surprised by how intense they were. Apparently they were pitch black inside and took so many twists, sudden turns and drops that both guys claimed they screamed like little girls.

In addition to tickets into the park, our family pass included lunch and money for the arcade. We took a pizza and breadsticks break for lunch and to my delight it was a classic; Noble Romans! People from Indiana know about Noble Romans, but apparently no one else does.
After lunch we let the kiddos play in the arcade while their food digested. Ruby and Elliot played ski-ball and whack-a-mole. Clara just wanted to drive the car the whole time. Ryan and Bryan played air hockey and Bryan and Elliot played Big Buck Hunter.

Saturday from 4-6 our hotel hosted a “Manager’s Reception” in the lobby with snacks and drinks, so of course, we hit that up before heading out to dinner. The kids loved eating popcorn, chips and dip – and (based on how much she ate) Clara seems to like spicy salsa.
After pretty much filling up at the Manager’s Reception, we enjoyed a delicious dinner out at Granite City followed by lots of laughs and storytelling over a game of Euchre back at the hotel.
Also, we ordered room-service (ice cream shooters). Ryan and Bryan went to pick up our treats and the guy downstairs said, “That’s a lot of shooters!” which turned into an ongoing joke throughout the rest of our time together. We couldn’t finish them – it truly was a lot of shooters.
And of course, Ryan and Bryan had a daily coffee routine at the hotel just like they had when we lived in the same house in Chicago. 
Such a fun weekend. We love having friends who will do silly stuff like randomly meet at a hotel water park in Indy. Hooray for friendships that last throughout the years in different states! We love Bryan and Michelle!