This is Ellie's destination of choice every year for her birthday. Last year, we had 10 month old Whitley with us, which made things a little less interactive for me. (Trying to keep her napping in an establishment designed to elicit squeals of delight was a challenge!). So, this time, Whitley stayed with Grandma Kay so I could be a little more involved with the "bigger kids". (I anticipate Whitley absolutely LOVING this place in the not-so-distant future, but another year or two of growing might be a good idea first).
We drove up last night and Ellie was so excited last night, this morning, on the trip up...etc. You'd think we were headed to Disneyland!
Note, Traig is crawling on the outside of the enclosure....for a kid that likes to follow rules, I'm so sure this is "making the right choice". =)
His mom made him pay for it. =)
A really good shot of these two cousins... I can't believe how old they are now.
My new Facebook profile pic...
So, here's the deal with Safari Sam's. They have a "Black Diamond" course that involves mounting a blue block to start.
It's supposed to be tall and ominous to keep the less experienced kiddies out...but, um, it's challenging. If I had awesome upper body strength like the boys - I'd just push myself up. If I was coordinated like Mikayla, I'd take a run at it and hop up. But, I don't have either of those skills. So, I end up trying numerous attempts and fails and dangle, and hang from the netting, and fall, and scramble up. Clearly, I'm not qualified to a "Black Diamond" participant, but that doesn't stop me.
Trying to channel my inner "American Ninja Warrior" imagining its a real log roll with water beneath...
Deep into "Black Diamond"...
We played numerous games of Tag throughout the four hours we were there. Lots of "Tag - no tag backs" uttered among us all. SO MUCH FUN.
A collage Michele put together with a few new pics to the mix. (Including the one in the left hand corner of Nati strangling my children...good times).
Despite all the fun we had, I feel like I'm always the first person ready to leave. The reason is kind of a bummer - I can't handle the heat the chase game generates in my prone-to-overheating-body as long as everyone else can. I was proud of myself this time around, as I retreated back to our cubby and would pound some water and use the "cool-towel" to lower my body heat. The good news, I managed to avoid a headache and even painkillers, which is a pretty big deal to accomplish when I know I'm nearing the peak of my temperature capabilities. The bummer news, I sat out more and was kind of sulky about it on the drive home.
That will be the key focus for me this summer - and something I talked to the kids about, and will try to keep emphasizing... That, there WILL ALWAYS BE something that will bug us, annoy us, or disappoint us that will gladly be used by the enemy to steal our joy from any event or activity we've spent months anticipating. Our job is to look out for these joy-stealers and keep our attitude where it needs to be. Clearly, I still have some work to do. (But, it WAS a fantastic day!)
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