What a wonderful day we had as a family this Monday! We all five spent the day playing in the sun
at Hawaiian Falls Waterpark. As we
walked in a large banner read, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us
rejoice and be glad in it.” Good
start.
The kids ran to the water.
A huge pineapple was filling up with water and dumping out on to the
gleeful children. A good soaking really
helps beat the heat on an August day in Texas.
Timothy started stepping backwards, fear on his face. I am reminded of how young he is, even when
he often wants to be so big and tough.
Lydia went straight to a slide and went down screaming,
“Binket,” as she had been instructed before we left so that Binket wouldn’t
miss the fun. I love how thoughtful my little
girl can be and how God has given her such a sharp memory.
I walked Timothy to a slide a little ways from the scary
pineapple and we whizzed down together.
He was all-smiles, as was I.
Slide after slide I held my sweet boy in my lap, and we just had fun
together, not thinking about anything but the here and now, enjoying the
moment. I smiled and thought about how
much fun I was having, how happy I was, what a gift this day was.
Timothy eventually got over the fear of the pineapple, even
though he made it clear that he was not going to like it with his strong words,
“I hate that thing.” Tony took our big
boy Luke to do big slides, and Lydia and Timothy stayed with me in the kiddie
area that was by no means too kiddy. I
was having a blast. Timothy decided he
was super brave and could go down by himself, and Lydia enjoyed some Momma
lap-time down the medium slides.
Tony and Luke made it back for a switch-up, and he took the
littles and I took my big. It doesn’t
seem like that long ago when my fearless first child started having a bit of a
fear of heights and no longer wanted to do big slides at the park. I suppose that was five years ago, but oh how
quickly it passes.
I climbed the steps of the large waterslide with Luke,
noticing how long his legs are getting, how his shoulders are broadening, and
how he is eager to be brave and do big kid stuff. We talked as we waited, and I was happy,
happy in this moment, thankful for this child.
I wrapped my legs around my big boy, and we squealed together as we went
down this great slide. We immediately
decided we should do it again.
Back and forth, Tony and I went from littles to big, taking
turns having fun with our kids and even did a few laps all together in the lazy
river and stayed as a big group around some medium slides in the family
area. Lydia wanted to be brave and do a
slide that she was just now tall enough to do, but her fear was too great. She would get to the top and change her
mind. Finally she decided she was going
to do it. She said, “I’m gonna do it for
you, Momma.” She made her way to the top
and went down. She was so thrilled with
herself, and I was thrilled with her fear-conquering feat. We celebrated with cheers and hugs. She decided to try another thrilling slide
and did it, raising her arms in the air and beaming with Momma’s cheers.
All day was like that, just happy and cheerful. It was the happiest day I have had since I
saw Kyson alive and wiggling around on the ultrasound screen back in June. I know that there will be more hard days
ahead, but I was thankful for this day this summer where I treasured my
smallest son’s childishness, rejoiced as why daughter conquered her fears, and
realized that my first born was growing up before my eyes into a great young
man, where I hugged each child close and loved being with them, playing with
them, laughing and squealing together, where I kept telling the man I adore how
much fun this was, and was so happy with the family that we have become, and
where I just let today be today and enjoyed it for all it was. “This is the day
the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
No comments:
Post a Comment