Carl and I recently took a trip to Idlewild with Savannah - just Savannah. We left Luke with Grandma for the day. (He is too little to ride anything, would be hot and miserable thus making us hot and miserable, plus it was nice for Savannah to get time with us like it used to be.)
She amazed me. We were prepared to spend the entire day in Raccoon Lagoon, where all of the "kiddie" rides are located. Once inside the park, that idea quickly vanished. She instantly wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel , the Spider, the Howler, the Balloon Races, the Scrambler...all of which she was tall enough (over 38 inches!) to ride as long as Carl or I rode with her. She looked to be the youngest one on all of those rides, but she loved it all. She rode the Spider with me (lots of up, down, and spin around) and at one point I saw Carl motioning to ask if she was crying (she was pressed close against me)...I looked down to check. No crying - she was grinning! She was close to me because she couldn't scoot away due to all the gravity, etc. on her. When she rode the Scrambler, Carl could watch and he said her face was bright with grins and giggles the entire ride. I know she was laughing with me for most of the ride!
She was a brave girl and got in the wave pool too. We put her in a life jacket and waded in. She held my hand and Carl's hand and as the waves came she'd just jump into them. She played in the splash pad area and the kiddie pool...she did everything. There was minimal whining, lots of smiling, and lots of fun.
It was so wonderful to spend time with Savannah and Carl (and our very, very good friend Patrick {hes practically family!}). We all had such wonderful conversations and laughs and fun. Savannah enjoyed being the center of attention, even if just for one day. She could have us all to herself for a bit. It was such a gorgeous, stress-free day. It was one of those days that bits of pieces of the memories will last forever in my mind. I know the moments of silliness on the Scrambler will be tucked away in my mind for years to come...the sound of her laughter intermingled with mine, with carnival music in the background, a light warm breeze, the love of my life watching with adoring eyes...it was just truly magical (who says Disney owns the right to be a magical place?!)...it made coming home just a tad difficult. No one wanted the day to end. It was such an amazing day...I think Savannah will have those memories tucked away also.
I missed Luke a lot though...more than once I found myself thinking about him and wanting to cuddle him. I was tired, but happy to see he was waiting up for us when we got home. I got in to quality cuddle and tickle time with him before bed. He was so delighted to see us when we walked in. He didn't know I was home, so when I picked him up and turned him so he could see me, he just grinned at me. It melts your heart when your children are just SO happy to see you. I love him so much too.
I think yesterday cemented my need to be done having children. I cannot wait for Luke to be a little older and have days like yesterday with us. I am so excited to see both Savannah and Luke riding rides with us...and Carl and I splitting up and spending a little time with each child...for us to get to ride as a family...for us to just have fun together. The idea of the four of us doing things together is just so exciting and tempting...and pregnancy was so difficult when I had Luke. He wasn't particularly problematic, but I worried the entire time. I still catch myself fearing that it will all disappear, that I really didn't have another amazing little baby. I think even Carl may be growing out of the stage of having babies, to just enjoying our babies. We are settling into a new phase of our marriage...we delight in each other as adults now. We are more than just newlyweds...we've survived a lot of ups and downs. This year has had a lot of rough patches (car accidents, sick family, etc) but we have had a lot of bright spots...one of which is our marriage growing stronger.
Our family feels complete. We are happy. We love each other. We are a solid unit. Our trip to Idlewild was just the beginning of many, many beautiful memories in our little family's mind. I am so excited to create more!
No comments:
Post a Comment