Saturday, August 07, 2010

North Pointe Aquatic Center

Today I finally visited the North Pointe Aquatic Center in Ballwin. It has a lazy river that goes around the majority of the complex. It sooo relaxing and doesn't move too fast or too slow. There are two pools, one is a kiddie pool that has a "beach" where you can ease into the water. Then there is a big pool that boasts two diving boards, two lap lanes, an Aquaclimb where climbers can climb a slanted wall and if they reach the top they can fall/jump back into the water. There was also a rope swing. There are two big slides; one dark (covered) and one open. I did the dark slide and it was awesome! For the kiddies there is a pretty nice splash ground and a kiddie area. The kiddie area has a tower w/ two slides a bucket on top that spills when it fills up and other fun things to entertain the little ones. There are lockers available however the center does not provide locks. I had a lot of fun floating in the lazy river and treading water in the big pool. I didn't bring a lock, I had my back pack which I thought would be fine however I was right next to the lazy river and it got splashed and my clothes got really wet. So next time I will bring a lock; that way I don't have to worry about my stuff or worry about wet clothes. There is also a cafe that provides the usual fare; burgers, dogs, chips, soda, etc etc... The shower/dressing room has three private showers and three open shower heads. There are no benches and only 4 things to hang stuff from. Hot water is non existant, the best is luke warm, however there is nice pressure. There are three changing rooms where there is a bench. That was nice. I normally go to the Riverchase Complex in Fenton, however it is closed until Tuesday for major cleaning. That provided the perfect excuse for me to explore a new pool. If it wasn't so expensive $7 a person I would go a lot. Now a comparrison:
Pluses for North Pointe: Awesome lazy river, aqua climb, rope swing, big kiddie play area, spash ground, two slides, Life guards Very attentive!
Negatives: Price, lack of hot water, lack of benches, lack of privacy (in the shower house), lack of locks, Open only Memorial Day through Labor day

Pluses for Riverchase: Has an indoor and outdoor pool w/ two kiddie play areas, has a nice hot tub, great pressure and lots of hot water in showers. Lockerroom is nice and spacious/ and private with electrical outlets so you can hook up a hairdryer. Locks are provided. Also there is a machine in the locker room that drys your suit- really neat. Indoor pool open year round.
Negatives: Lazy river is a joke, scratch that there is no lazy river, Price ($7 a person although they are advertising a new discount for 63026 residents-aka me), life gaurds are airheads w/ no authority and too worried about ruining their hair or getting their clothes wet to provide adequate protection ( I do not trust those gaurds!)

All in all, I really enjoyed my time at North Pointe and will definately be visiting again soon (I hope).

Sunday, August 01, 2010

Jenny goes Ka-boom!

Okay I have been getting some questions as to why I'm on crutches and what happened. So here goes:

Friday morning I went to the doctor at St. Clares Hospital for an appt and to turn in some papework for medical bills. After my doc appt and getting even more paperwork, mom and I headed back to my car. Mom is helping me w/ the bills and paperwork, and thank God she was with me then! It was raining and mom and I were joking that we were going to shrink b/c we were getting wet. I was about a foot from the drivers door when I slipped. Long story short my left knee hit the ground first and hit the hardest. Falling and landing on my knees has been a nightmare scenario for me for a while now. I was in shock when I got up from my fall. Thank God for my mother- she ran and got me a wheelchair and convinced me to check into the ER. A cop took a report of the accident b/c I fell on the hospital parking lot. He took pics of my torn up knees and my dirty shoes (now covered in mud thanks to my fall). Once in the ER, they cleaned up my left knee, took some X-rays, and gave me some pain meds. I wasn't in real pain until we were waiting to get checked out. I opted to have my knee wrapped instead of an imobilizer b/c I just bruised it, I don't think I tore anything. Thanks to my lack of grace I had to call in to work late, then after some convincing from momma I called and said I wasn't coming in. As we were leaving (I think I was starting to feel the effects of the meds) I was asking mom if we could still go to my eye doc appt (which I had to cancel when I fell). I ended up taking a long nap when I got home. I was (and still am) upset about dirting up my cute red tennis shoes (I had just washed them the week before).
Right now I am home icing both my knees b/c the right one is protesting after having to have all my weight on it. I had to replace the pads on the crutches as the old ones were practically falling apart. So now I have new pads on the crutches which I may or may not use when I go into work t/m. I will more than likely be missing Zumba again (booo!) thanks to this. The first 24 hours sucked. My knee is feeling better and I've done some walking w/o the crutches, little unsteady but doing okay. So I'm feeling alright and am recovering nicely. I am trying to rest...not easy as I don't like to admit that I need help or take it easy.