The Most Magical Place in the World...

.......Used to be Disney Land. Now when someone wins the Superbowl,  all they want to do is go to the Florence River Heritage Park Splash Pad!! Well.. at least me and my kids do. And IT'S FREE!! 

I have only just started taking my children there. I guess I was intimidated by the fact that I would have to take them by myself, and was unsure how much trouble it would be to get them out of the car, set up camp, chase them and yell in front of innocent children with their parents. 

I always have this fear that I am going to do that thing where I start yelling at my kids in public and all the music will stop, and everyone swivels their heads to look at me, mouth agape.  Crickets will chirp, and I will be embarrassed that I was the one yelling in public. 

So, I finally went. To my delight, I wasn't the only one yelling, and  thankfully, the girls were really  really good. :)

It seems like a little oasis in the boring parts of summer, when the air conditioned rooms dry out your skin and make you feel cold.  Every day I wake up and think... should I take the girls to the Splash Pad? They have fun music playing, chlorinated water, and I bring my chair and set up to watch the girls and get some well-deserved sunshine on my face. 

We have only had a couple of really bad moments there. One day Anne dove knee-first onto the concrete, skinning her knees pretty bad.  The other one was horrifying, Madeline got hurt on the gusts of water in a private area.  

Even after scrapes and boo-boos, we still love to go. I think it is magical in the sense that it makes Mommy happy, and I usually bring snacks and Capri-Suns for them.  

Sunshine + Snacks + happy Mama.. = seems too good to be true. 

Now when I say "Who wants to go to the Splash Pad??", Lily will jump up, take her clothes off and scream "SPLASH PAD SPLASH PAD BABY SOUP BABY SOUP". Baby Soup is how she says "bathing suit". 

Maybe we will go today...

Just go ahead and stick a dagger in my heart.

Jacob got to Chicago! They made it up there pretty fast, actually.. I was impressed.  He had told me that they were in "wicked heavy traffic" and that the city was busy and beautiful. He sent me a picture of the Sears Tower. I talked to him when he got to his hotel and chatted for a while, although, they were pretty exhausted from driving for 10 hours. 

A little later, I called him and he blurted "I CAN'T TALK. I'M DRIVING. I'M TRYING TO FIND HEATHER ARMSTRONG."  I hung up the phone and got really excited, mainly because I LOVE her and would die if I got to be in the same room with her. So witty and brilliant, that lady. 

He called me a while later and I eagerly answered, thinking.... well.. thinking so many things. For instance.. Did he just tell her he "drove all the way from Alabama to Chicago and can you please say hello to my wife who is in love with you?" Instead I heard a defeated "Hey, Honey." Which meant bad things that would later come back to haunt me. He said yes, they did find the bookstore. Yes, she is still here signing books. They are all sold out of books. THEY ARE ALL SOLD OUT OF BOOKS. THEY ARE ALL SOLD OUT OF BOOKS. For REALz. I heard all this chatter and I felt all the mixed emotions of defeat and utter excitement. 

Me: "Well.. Can... you just tell her I said Hello and you drove all that way and I love her?"

Jacob : "no."

Me: " How does she look? Is she all tired and bloated and pregnant-looking??"

Jacob: "uh.. she's putting on a good face."

Me: "Can you just hold up your iPhone and take a PICTURE of her???"

Jacob: "No."

Me: "Well!!  Can you just .."

Jacob: "NO, LAURA. There is a room full of people. There is a long, long line to see her.  It's going to take her another hour just to sign all those people's books."

I felt so close.. yet so far away.  I actually did that little girl squeal when he called me from the hotel. It went something like this "eeeeeeeeeeI'msoexcitedyourinthesamecityasheeeerrrrr!!!".

It's the effort. That is why I love that man. 

Lets go back a few steps.

Dearest Internet, 

The month long hiatus from this blog was filled with lots of fun and then sickness, followed by laundry .. never ending laundry. And anger. But I will address that in my own time. I think some people just need to be pulled aside so that they can be told of the trail of toilet paper hanging out of their shoe.. or something allegorical like that. Some people don't want any attention brought to their own freak-shows. 

I had a birthday party!! It was a joint birthday  party with Brandice, and honestly I cannot think of any better way to spend a weekend. It was fiesta themed, complete with pinata and margaritas and tom-foolery.  My Favorite part was when I whispered to Brandice in her ear that I was going to point her to Ben Stedman, and she hit him PERFECTLY. The most brilliant thing was, his back was turned, and everyone else saw what was happening but him. she hit him square in the side. Everyone laughed and we got to spank Ben all at the same time. :)

I have the best friends, and I am so thankful for all the work that went into the party, and all the cleaning up afterwards. It was wonderful and I will always remember it. I think Brandice should have parties with me from now on. :)

Anne is Hilarious

My children make me bust out laughing on a daily basis. This week, Anne came home with this classwork sheet in her school folder. I think it paints an accurate description of the language she hears around here.

She has to make up three words and then put them in a sentence.
These are the three words she chose.

It's coming.

Dude, Later today, I am totally gonna blog.

I have been so busy lately that I have neglected you, dearest internet.
Later today, you... me.... it's on.