Almost Missed Opportunities

Recently my family members asked me why I chose not to blog about all the fun we have had over the past month. I didn't really have a good answer except for the fact that I did not have any pictures to go along with it.

Then I was reminded of the fact that this is my "journal" , not my photograph album, and thank goodness for that because it definitely would be empty. I was reminded that some our greatest histories did not have pictures attached to them (except for those created in the minds of the readers)--The scriptures, The Diary of Anne Frank, etc. but aren't we glad to have them just the same.

We do have a fairly decent camera, but I always seem to forget it. I guess, I one of those people who like to live in the moment and at the time, for me, the "moment" does not make me think about stopping my part of the fun to take photo shots.

I hate that.

I really do, especially after watching some home video footage of my sweet and adorable girls as babies and toddlers last night after Mike's great lesson for FHE about our probationary state on earth. And how that is really just a short time in the whole spectrum of things. His lesson was made clear when he finished it with the home videos of the girls. They reminded us of just how fast those times seem to go by.

Anyway, I'm digressing again. Sorry.

So here is my effort not miss an opportunity for journaling (is that a word?) some fun times my family had in the past month, even if I do not have any images except for those that will forever be imprinted in my mind along with the sweet sounds of laughter that accompany them.

First, we did have one missed opportunity, that just about everyday I kick myself for not taking it. At the end of July, Mike received an opportunity to stay in a 3 bedroom and 2 bath condo for an entire week for free in Orlando. Oh, I love that town--so much fun!!! It's hard not to forget the worries of the world and fall into some Disney magic. We came very close to accepting the offer, but my frugality would not let us do it.

After all, school was starting=$, violin lessons=$, piano lessons=$, and with our luck there is always bound to be some sort of unknown expense. And I could not forget the fact that we were there just this past February and had a FABULOUS time. We have to be logical, and we were. So no 2nd Disney trip in one year.

Having said that, we did have some other FABULOUS times! Here they are (without photographic proof):

On Friday, August 8th, we decided to make a trip to Gulf Shores and spend the day at Waterville USA. We had such a fun time! Cecily is our brave daredevil. Her little 45lb self is FEARLESS. (Trust me on our last trip to Disney , unlike me, she rode Expedition Everest like it was a ride in the back of a little red wagon). She and Mike both went on the every water slide including the infamous "Screaming Demon".

Let me just stop and say that I thought Mike was putting her on one of the "less scarier" slides as I watched from below with Ariel. However, when I saw him help her get on the free fall slide I was screaming like a maniac at the bottom, "NO, NO, NO". My heart almost literally stopped, as though I were on the ride myself, watching my child plunge to her death---or so I feared.

As I saw her little frail body coming down that slide, I really thought she was going to fly off of the side. Thankfully, it did not happen!

When she got off she said, "THAT WAS AWESOME! I'M DOING THAT AGAIN!"

I said, "OH, NO YOU'RE NOT! You just about gave me a heart attack. Why don't you try the enclosed green slide." We all went up together this time to ride the green slide and then the rainbow slide. Can we just say one word---"WEDGIE". YIKES.

But Ariel, sticking to her guns, would not come. NOPE. I'm not really sure why she did not go on those slides. This is a girl who LOVES the "Rock-N-Roller Coaster" at Disney, but for some reason would not go on this. Go figure! We did not force her because we always want her to trust her instincts in life (and she does have good ones). We want her to remember that if she does not feel comfortable with something to stick with it. She did, however, go on everything else that day and had a blast.

We had a great time like I said, but we also gained an extra family member for the last part of our day. Let me explain. Wherever we go, it doesn't matter, Ariel makes friends of all ages. She has a gift for that. Usually, however, the "friendship" last only the length of the line, and ends with some warm goodbyes and perhaps a wave if seen later on in the day.

However, this was not one of those experiences. Ariel met a girl who told us at first that she was going into the 5th grade, then she said that she was so smart that they let her skip a grade or two? Okay, unlike Ariel, Mike and I are not as trusting (plus, we have a little more life experiences). This girl was fully developed. She looked older (and later we found out she was 13). Apparently she was there with her mother and aunt who ditched her. So she decided to attach herself to our family, which was a little unnerving for me because of how easy it was for her to lie about things that were not even necessary for her to lie about. Plus, the topics of her conversation were let's just say not always PG (we tried hard to tame her conversation though by telling her we don't talk like that, watch those kind of movies, listen to that kind of music, plus we found out A LOT about her home life (trying to figure out how much was truth and how much was lies was the trickier part). Mike was kinder than I, and he reminded me that perhaps we could show this girl what a family was like, maybe we could make a difference. I had a bad attitude--I didn't know what we could do in one day, Come on Mike.

I admit it, I'm the bad one, I did not want to turn our last fun day of summer into a service project.

Several times, I tried to ditch her. For example, our family had both the water park and theme park admission (which in my opinion the theme park of this park is TOTALLY LAME--the carousel is only a little bigger than those you find outside of Wal-Mart--not kidding).

This girl only had the water park, because her family was using a friend's annual pass. Opportunity I thought! Hey, "Let's go on the Roller Coaster and go-carts!" The girl said, "Oh, I can't go. I guess I just hang out here by the wave pool." Ariel said, "No, let's find out how much more it will cost for you to come with us." She said, "Okay." If you could have seen my face, I was like, "What is happening here?" As luck would have it, her Aunt miraculously shows up and gives her money so she continue to spend the day with US!"

I guess I'm selfish. We did have a good time though, and if that was my test for the day, again, I failed miserably. I know you all think bad of me, but no more than I think of myself, so it's okay.

Our other big fun day was a week ago from Friday. Providence Hospital gave their employees free tickets to the Mobile Bay Bears Game. We decided to go. Hey it was free, and if nothing else it gave us an opportunity ,as a family, to do something out of our norm.

Let me just say, this is really out of the norm for our family. We are not into sports. Unless we are playing them--which again is rare. None of us enjoy watching people play from a TV screen. However, there is a difference when one watches it LIVE. At least for us.

We were not sure how the girls would do. Ariel had only been to one Bay Bear Game, and it was with the Girl Scouts. They had a water slide then, spent the night on the field after the game and watched a movie on the big screen so of course she loved it. Cecily had never been to a sporting event. So we were taking a chance with this OPPORTUNITY, and I'm so glad we did. WE HAD A BLAST!

I think going to baseball games is now definitely something my girls will want to do. They loved it. They actually watched the game. They cheered for the players. They were engrossed with the game, and THEY wanted to stay for the entire game (although Cecily did finally pass out around 9:45pm).

It was sooo funny. Ariel is definitely one who gets involved. She was yelling things like, "HIT 'ER HOME RUSTY" or "KNOCK IT OUT OF THE PARK BURRITO" (the player's name was Brito and Taco Bell was going to give everyone in the stand a free taco if one of the players hit it out of the park during that one inning--which did not happen.) She really wanted to catch a ball and even yelled things like "HIT ONE BACK HERE!", but luckily we were sitting in a spot that the likelihood of that happening was VERY slim. Hey, those balls can kill!

The best part was seeing that Ariel was getting those around us to cheer too, and of course she made friends.

I really wish I could be more like that. The whole time I felt like, "Ariel, shh. People are looking at you." But everyone around us loved it. I need to remember to let her be herself and not try to make her to be like me. She's much more successful when she is herself.

When the other team was up, she even yelled, "BATTER, BATTER, BATTER, SWING". Soon three young college age boys joined in with her. It was absolutely hilarious. We had a great time and will definitely be something we will do again. Who would have thought! OH, and the Bay Bears WON--my memory is so bad, but I think it was 11 to 5 (more proof that I definitely need to journal).

The only let down of the night was that usually they have fireworks after the game. However, this night, they just let one little "bang" off and showed "fake" fireworks on the big screen.

Fun Times--glad I did miss the opportunity to journal about it even without pictures!