Water park weekend fun

Josh's mom had come up with the idea of a waterpark weekend together with the family as our Christmas gift.  We both loved the idea of doing a present rather than actual physical gifts. I always love the memories, joy and fun that happens when family spends time all together doing something fun. The plan was originally to go in February but with a long awaited bundle of joy that decided to show up early, we rescheduled for this weekend. The kids and I left Friday with early dismissal from school so we could beat rush hour and the bad weather that was coming into town. It also gave us a chance to spend some time with Josh's dad's side of the family for dinner Friday night. The kids had a blast playing with cousins, eating pizza, and cuddling.

We left for the waterpark Saturday and the fun began right when we got there. They had two giant slides that the kids were terrified of at first, especially Grace. We had lots of talks about fear and bravery, and I was so proud of her as she finally conquered her fear and went down the yellow tube slide with me. By the end of the day all three were going down both slides by themselves! I love seeing my little ones conquer fears and grow so much. All the kids had fun floating down the lazy river, Jonah even fell asleep in the water on grandma.  They had a cool water play place too that the kids had fun playing on. Of course we plan thinking we will be in the water for hours all day, and instead after 2-3 hours we were toast and ready for dinner, basketball games and birthday fun. With all the March birthdays in the family we celebrated all together this weekend. I have to say my strawberry lemonade cupcake was delicious! YUM! It may be my favorite flavor of cake now. Of course the kids also loved the idea of staying in a hotel with cousins and family. It instantly becomes an adventure. :) All of us had a great time, and I am so glad we did it. 

Other than a few tears when Caleb realized he forgot to bring in puppy, and a few more at night as they missed daddy being there too, we all did quite well..... until we got about 5 minutes from home.  What started with a questions about high points and low points, ended up with sob fest as we listened to some of Josh's favorite songs at their request. They wanted to know what song Josh and I danced to at our wedding. Nothing like Garth Brooks' "To Make you Feel My Love" to make for a tear jerking last few minutes of our trip home. In an instant I am transported back to our wedding night as we danced together. He loved that song, and he loved showing all four of us love all the time. We talked a lot tonight about the choices we have: to let the anger and sadness we feel about Josh leaving us too soon become bitterness, or to choose to be grateful for the time we had, trusting God in the midst of the hurt. And so we choose to praise God for the love he gave us.   To Make you Feel my Love

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It doesn't not dishonor each other, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evi but rejoices with truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preservers. Love never fails. - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8