Dancing, Gymnastics, and Stepping Stones

Things have been clicking along here, and we have been having some fun. We went to a girls gymnastics meet at the Arena and had fun. Sydney Frances also had her last preschool ballet performance this past Wednesday. We had a good time watching her perform, and Gigi was able to come with us this time. She is such a good listener and loves to participate. I hope that will continue when she starts school.

Rush is always so sweet when he goes to watch a performance. I am pretty sure he could think of a million places that he would rather be, but he always tells his Teeta that she did a great job dancing. :-) We also love SF's dance teacher, Mrs. Wilton. She does such a great job with all of those little dancing ladies.



Anyone want to go to a meet with us next year? Phil participated this time, but he let me know this would be his last meet. :-) His coke was $7.00 and I'm not sure he was as entertained by the floor routines as I was.


The weather here has been beautiful, so the kids and I headed out to the park yesterday morning. We went to a different park from our normal one. It doesn't have as much play equipment, but it has more trails and places to walk and explore. That can be translated to... I enjoyed it more than the kids did. What started out to be a fairly normal trip to the park turned into quite an adventure. We played on the playground equipment for a little while, but truthfully, my kiddos were nearly too big for the elements they had at this park. It was designed for younger kids. While my two are very aware of being sweet to babies, etc., I was afraid they were going to hurt one of the smaller kiddos. So, we hit the trails. They liked the bridges and looking into the water for fish. We stopped for a while to play on some rocks that cross part of the creek before it heads into the lake. Then, we walked out on the pier to look into the lake. After that, we walked around the loop, playing along the way. At this point in the trip, everyone looked like this:



(This posing... I have nothing to do with this. I think it is a result of spending four years with a camera in your face.)

As we were getting ready to head back to the car, we decided to stop at the rocks one more time. These are the big, flat rocks that are meant to be stepped on to cross from one side to the next. Can you see where this is going? We should have stopped at the first trip across the rocks. All would have been well. So, there we were. I was giving them challenges. I would walk to a certain rock, and then tell them to try to find a path to get to me. We were all playing and having so much fun. Then... Fran lost her balance. I am not sure I have ever heard a scream that loud. From anyone. Ever. It was blood-curdling. Like end of the world, worst thing ever, I am scarred and my life will never be the same screaming. As in, "Moooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyy, LOOOOOOOOOOOOKKKKKKKKK AAAAAT MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! I am soaking WEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTT! Oh no, dry me off, what will I do, make it be dry, my shoes are wet, look at my pants, oh no there is dirt on my hands, oh no there is dirt on my pants, make it be dry, Mommy!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I wish that I had snapped a picture, but I was laughing too hard. I know that was wrong, but I couldn't help it. I was trying to calm her down, but I was seriously laughing to the point that my stomach was hurting. You would think that is the end, but in the meantime while I was tending to her, Rush was still "river-rocking." So, as I was bringing her back to earth with a normal heart rate, etc. I heard the most out of control, horrifying scream that I have ever heard. Worse than Fran's by a mile. Rush had also fallen into the water. The only good thing I can say here is that Frannie was somewhat under control for the moment. There are seriously no words to describe the howls coming from Rush's mouth. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that everyone in the park heard him. No doubt. I had to put him under a tree in "time-out" because he wouldn't pull it together and he was on the verge of getting a spanking. There was no consoling him. It was clearly the worst thing that had ever happened to him in all of his four years. A dog named Peaches saved the day in the end. He ran up to Rush and hit the reset button for me. (Thank you random college student and owner of Peaches for helping to pull our day back together. The student talked to Rush for a few minutes and let Rush pet the dog.)

I decided I had to make a decision as a parent based on this complete and total over-reaction to slipping into a creek and having some wet shoes. We needed a little lesson in rolling with the punches. I mean let's face facts... this definitely won't be the last time something crappy happens. We need to learn some coping skills because their reaction was not okay. So, we rolled up pants legs and headed back onto the rocks. I made sure everyone was playing, smiling, and happy again. By the way, Fran fell again and soaked her pants this time. She got up and gave me a strained smile and said, "It doesn't matter, Mommy. I don't care if I am soaking wet. I am having so much fun." And again, I could not control the laughter. At the end of the trip we all looked like this:



All ended well, though, and we had an adventure to tell Phil all about when we got home. Phil's question when I described the demonstrations of horror: "Was it worse than when they put the girl toy in Rush's Happy Meal from McDonald's?" My answer: "Yes, oh yes."