Sleeping & Splashing…

The weekends go by so fast.

AB had already asked her Daddy to take us to “breakfix” at Cracker Barrel on Saturday morning, so that’s how we started our weekend. (I think its so funny that she knows all the different restaurants and has her favorites. Its so fun that’s she’s at the age where she can tell us what she wants and what she likes and doesn’t like).

After breakfast, we came home to do a few things around the house and then went to Pappy’s pool for a few hours.

It was our first swim of the year and AB had a ball.

She is LOVING the water this year. EXCEPT when it gets in her face. She’s not a fan of going under. Swimming lessons started on Monday, so I am anxious to see how that goes.

That night, AB was so excited that Grammy was staying the night at our house! My Dad was away for work, so Momma decided to stay with us! She didn’t want to put AB out of her bed, so she brought an aerobed. She ended up having company. Annabelle never even asked, she had just decided she was going to sleep with Grammy. When she got her jammies on, she went straight for the blow-up. She’s too much. She loved getting to sleep with mom and I couldn’t believe it on Sunday morning when they had both slept all night.

AB wanted Mamie Girl to lay on the “bwo up wif her”

Mother’s Day is always a bittersweet day. For the past five years, we just try to do something different and get out for the day.

This year, we thought about the zoo again, but we weren’t sure about the weather, and decided not to drive that far, just in case it did rain us out. Last week, I had heard about a water park that is close to us. It said on the website that it was a “safe Christian environment for swimmers of all ages and abilities.” I wasn’t sure how much AB would be able to do, but we thought it would be worth checking out, especially since we’ve been brainstorming local things to do with my brother’s family when they come down soon.

It was about a 30 minute drive for us and we still didn’t really know what to expect when we got there. The entrance and grounds looked really nice, though. The water park is actually on the grounds of a camp. There were cabins, a prayer chapel, cafeteria as well as other banquet halls and meeting rooms on the grounds. The whole place is owned by a church conference. They do summer camps and retreats for their churches there, and then they also rent out the facilities to other churches and organizations. I don’t really know anything about the denomination that owns the camp, but the waterpark was nice.

I loved that they had the JoyFM playing on the speakers around the park and it made for such a peaceful, friendly environment.

To our surprise, AB was able to enjoy everything there, except the water slide (and I don’t think she would have even went on it if she had been tall enough).

They have a small lazy river

the water slide

and a wave pool. The wave pool has the gradual entry which was perfect for smaller kids. It also has a little splash zone that AB enjoyed. They turn the waves on every 15 or 20 minutes and AB loved getting to hold on to a tube and ride the waves. She also likes to ride on her Daddy’s back. :)

They had lots of nice chairs and plenty of tents set up around the park for shade. They also have several tents with picnic tables under them.

Me, Mom & Mamie watched from the shade for most of our visit.

AB had DW going back and forth from the wave pool to the lazy river the whole time we were there! :)  Grammy gave him a break, though, and got in the wave pool with her for a while.

I surprised even myself, when I actually got in the water with AB, too. The thought of public pools really gross me out – and if any pool is even slightly warm, you won’t catch this girl in it. But I did it and I was pleased to report the water was cold and not even close to feeling like it had been tee-teed in. :)  It also smelled like strong chlorine, which is another plus- I will take my bathing suit fading over yucky germy water any day. :)

It was a fun morning and we will definitely be taking Beau’s crew when they come down!

I am certainly so very thankful for my own Momma and of course for my three children. What a privledge it is to be a mom.

We ended the day with a visit to “Cooper’s place” (as AB calls it). It wouldn’t feel right to me, having Mothers Day without going there. He is, after all, the precious boy who made me a momma. My mom got me the sweetest little statue of three turtles on it for out there. I love that when I told AB it had three little turtles just like my three little kids, that she knew exactly what I meant and pointed out who was who.

Yes, Mother’s Day (along with everything else) will always be bittersweet – But I’ll take that over just plain bitter any day.

I am blessed – and I am thankful.

~amw~