Poolside and Park Day

Saturday, we decided to head to one of our local outdoor pools as a family. Scamp had not swam with her Daddy this year, so she was excited and clung to him most of the day. He was able to sneak away to have a few jumps off the diving board, but I wasn't able to get any pictures.

Sunday was Family Day with our church. They rented a pavilion at one of the local parks and set up a huge slide in the shape of the Titantic and jumping pit for the kids. We had hamburgers and hot dogs and waited in line 3 times to take Scamp down the slide. When it was my turn with her, I started getting really nervous. Beef says I'm a wimp when it comes to this kind of stuff and maybe I am, but I still went down.

We had to climb up an enclosed tunnel, and once we reached the top and looked down, my first instinct was to turn right around and head back down that dark tunnel, pushing kids out of the way to reach freedom. But, I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of all those 5 year olds. I sat down above the steep decline of the slide, placed Scamp in my lap, and pushed myself off, not wasting anytime so as not to talk myself out of sliding. My mind was in slow motion but my body continued to pick up speed. It felt as though my stomach had left it's cozy spot underneath my rib cage and repositioned itself in my throat. I clutched Scamp with my left arm while trying to slow us down with my right elbow. We reached the bottom just as the teenage slide keeper dodged my incoming feet and narrowly escaped a broken leg if we had collided.

We bounded off the air-fluffed bottom, and Scamp ran into her daddy's arms. I think she could feel the fear I had tried to mask, but my rapid heart beat and shaking limbs unveiled my panic. I hadn't noticed before, but my right elbow was burning. And when I looked down, I saw that the slide's canvas had in fact burned my skin as I was instinctually trying to slow our acceleration. I don't care what anyone says, that was no kiddie ride!