A Welcome to Summer

Can I just mention again how lucky I feel to have some family nearby? We went to Emerald Pointe, a water park sort of near us here in NC, with the Saari family (Julie's sister) for Memorial Day and it was a blast! BJ and I were a bit nervous at first because Haylee didn't want to do anything and it was a bit chilly (not cold, just not screaming hot) but we all warmed up and had so much fun! Haylee was so brave and went on a couple very small water slides but her favorite part by far (as she keeps reminding us) was the octopus that had swings on it (in a pool). (Every prayer she has said since we got back she has been thankful for swimming and the octopus!) Bree had a ball just splashing in the water, oh and trying to climb out of the tube in the lazy river. BJ and Jason went off on their own to do some male-bonding on the biggest rides and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Mindy and I took our turn going on some of the "must be over 45 inches tall" rides and to sum up our experience, I shall use the word "thrilling." Let's just say we were a bit shocked that all these kids were going on the rides we were without batting an eyelash while we were so nervous that we were shaking the entire time! I felt so old and loser-esque! But trust me, I had reason to be afraid...the story why deserves its own paragraph...

About 1/3 of the way down one of the tube rides, the current from the water started pushing me equally from all directions so that I just stalled! I was stuck! I watched as rider after rider passed by me, wondering what I was doing there I'm sure. After trying to push off the side of the slide without luck, I frantically started trying to grab the handles on everyone else's tubes, despite the dirty looks I received from many of them, but it was no use! Finally, I just started yelling "Help me!" to everyone and they all just slid by me with an "oh, sorry!" and a sympathetic shoulder shrug. I thought about getting out of my tube but as I pictured myself getting swept up in the current and making the newspaper headlines the next day and knowing how I look in a swimsuit, I dismissed that option immediately. Eventually, my head started swimming with all kinds of thoughts, should I start screaming? would I be here all day? how did this happen? am I just too heavy? am I sitting in this thing the wrong way? maybe I should tell someone this ride is unsafe, that is, if I ever get off this thing? what was the last thing I said to my girls? will BJ be ok without me? should I start praying about this?...eventually, my runaway thoughts were rescued by an unsuspecting teenager who got wedged with me and I pushed off his tube with more energy than I thought I had, sending myself down the remaining 2/3 of the slide. The funniest part was Mindy, just sitting down at the bottom waiting for me. She overheard some guy, "Dude, did you see the lady that got stuck?" It took her a minute to realize that "lady" was me!