Facing My Fears

As I mentioned before, my husband loves Groupon.  He excitedly told me last week about a new deal he had gotten for us to enjoy.  He said he has seen it on there several different times, and never gotten it, but had finally went ahead with it and he was so happy.  He said it was to something called “Repticon.”  “Um, is that something to do with the Transformers?” I asked hopefully.  “Nope!  It’s a reptile exhibit!” he said.  Uh-oh. 

We all have our things that we are afraid of.  I love turtles.  I’m pretty okay with lizards.  I’ve always been really afraid of frogs and totally terrified of snakes.  And this is the way it’s been for as long as I can remember.  I thought pretty much everybody was afraid of snakes.  Until I met Brad.

I realized there was something a little different about him the first Easter we spent together, my freshmen year in college.  Back then my family had a big Easter get-together every year.  We ate, and hid eggs for the kids, but the main attraction was the adult Easter egg hunt.  Yes, that’s right, the grown-ups hunted more eggs than the kids.  And they were ALL prize eggs.  My family saved up stuff all year for this hunt, and every egg had a slip of paper in it with a number on it, and the number corresponded to a prize.  They were GOOD prizes too.  One of my aunts sold Beauty Control, and I would get stocked up on make-up at the Easter egg hunt, and that year Brad won a fishing pole!  But that’s not the thing that everybody remembers. 

We were out there hunting our eggs, and my cousin Lisa reached into big grove of elephant ear plants and saw an unpleasant surprise.  “SNAKE!” she screamed, which resulted in a stampede of epic proportions.  Seriously.  We are not snake people.  As we all ran in different directions, up and down the hillside, screaming and running into each other; one person heads towards the grove of elephant ears.  Yep, you guessed it.  My Brad. 

He parted the big leaves and took a gander at the snake.  My Eagle Scout quickly determined it wasn’t poisonous—it was only a little garter snake.  But as far as my family is concerned, there is only one kind of snake:  Copperheaded Rattle Moccasins.  We assume they are all poisonous and deadly.  Because if the snake won’t kill us, we will surely kill ourselves trying to get away from it.

That day as we were running amuck, Brad did something that made everybody stop in their tracks.  He reached in and PICKED THE SNAKE UP!  My entire family came to a screeching halt, and silence descended on the land.  They all gawked at him.  Did I mention this was the first time I brought him to a family event and introduced him to everybody?  Yes, way to make a good impression Brad!  I stood there cringing, and Brad, oblivious to the commotion he had just caused, calmly headed across the road to release the snake back into the wild and away from my crazy family.  As the headed out of the yard, one of my aunts said “Is he going to EAT it?”  Another aunt muttered “I didn’t know Methodists handled snakes…”  And then the third aunt said “Well, at least we know he can take care of her!”  And with that remark, Brad was accepted into the family. 

 

Brad loves ALL of God’s creatures, and somehow I managed to give birth to a little girl that is just like him.  Don’t get me wrong, I love animals too, but I’m pretty much a dog person.  Korban loves to look at animals, but he’s still learning how to interact with them. 

Now Selah has touched snakes before, at different zoos and museums and such, and she is not afraid of them.  Both my family and Brad’s has gotten onto us for letting her touch the snakes, because they are afraid she will find one out in the yard or something and just snatch it up.  And I understand their concern, but I really don’t want her to be afraid of snakes.  I know that sounds crazy, coming from someone who’s always been terrified of them.  Here’s the thing—I don’t like feeling afraid.  Snakes give me the heebie jeebies, but truthfully, most of them are not dangerous.  I read somewhere that like 95% of people who were bitten by snakes were trying to kill it at the time they were bitten.  In that case, I guess the snake was acting in self-defense.  And no worries for me in that area—I never planned to get close enough to one to try to kill it.  “Use a hoe!” my family tells me.  “They don’t make hoes long enough!” I tell them.  

I tried to apply some logic to this though.  Like I said, I love dogs.   Selah does too.  But just like it’s not a good idea to go out and pick up some snake, it’s also not a great idea to approach a dog you don’t know and try to pet it.  I always caution Selah to ask the dog’s owner before she tries to touch it.  We’ve had opportunities to practice this, at friends’ houses and also at the park when we are there playing and people are out walking their dogs.  I’ve tried to teach my kids that most dogs are friendly, but they aren’t all nice, and sometimes their owner might just not want to be bothered or the dog might be a service animal.  It’s just better to ask before you run up and pet ANY animal.  And honestly, I know way more people that have been bitten by dogs than by snakes, including myself.

So that brings us to today, and Repticon.  We always try to do a fun day before back to school, and today was it.  We headed for Southaven this morning, and the kids were looking forward to seeing the animals.  Brad and I didn’t realize that this exhibit was more or less just a bunch of people trying to sell exotic pets, but it was still really cool.  They had like a little classroom area set up and different people spoke about different pets.  And of course they had tons of animals on display, although most of them were in cages. 

Most, but not all.  There were quite a few people walking around with snakes wrapped around their necks, like a necklace or something.  I made a mental note to try to steer clear of those people.  But good grief, we were at a reptile exhibit, so what did I expect? There was one guy walking around with a HUGE snake around his shoulders, and while we were crowded in looking at something, he and his buddy walked right up behind us.   He wasn’t being rude at all, they were just looking too, but there wasn’t anywhere I could go to get away from him.  I seriously had to catch myself because I started breathing really fast and shallow and I had to talk myself out of the crazy tree just a little bit.  But once I was able to put a little space between us, I decided that I needed to just go on and conquer that fear as best I could while I had such an opportunity.

I approached the guy and asked if we could look at the snake, and he was more than happy to show her off to us.  Yes, she was a girl, but I don’t remember her name.  He told us what kind she was—a boa, if I remember correctly.  My brain was probably still deprived of oxygen at this point.  He told us she was really sweet natured and to illustrate this point, he kissed that snake right on her snakey face.  I didn’t even pee my pants.  I am so proud of me.   I asked if we could make pictures and touch her, and he said sure.  So I snapped some photos, and then I petted her.  Brad says I only poked the snake, since I just used my fingertip and barely touched her, but I disagree.  The snake owner proudly told us that she was 5’5”, which makes her five inches taller than me.  I think the fact that I could even stand in the same room with her was a huge step for me.  And Brad really was proud, I could tell. 

By far, our favorite animal was the bearded dragon.  It’s a large lizard that they tout as being the “dogs of the reptile world.”  They are very calm, and docile.  Friendly even, and good with kids.  They are also hypoallergenic, which is pretty cool for an indoor pet in a houseful of asthma sufferers.  The kids loved them, and I told Brad I really wouldn’t mind having one someday.  People were also walking around with those sitting on their shoulders, and it looked much less creepy to me than the snakes.  I really think I even saw some of the lizards snuggling!  I think what totally sold Brad on it was the harnesses.  They sold little harnesses for them, so you can walk your lizard!  Can you imagine busting up in the walking track with a two foot long lizard on a leash?  That might cause a stir.  But of all things, they were selling handmade dragon harnesses today, and they had an Ole Miss pattern.  For real!  So if we ever get a pet dragon, you know it will be an Ole Miss fan. 

Afterwards, I laughed and said to Brad “You know if you didn’t have me, you could’ve been one of those guys walking around with a snake on your shoulders.”  (He’s always wanted a python, but I laid the law down on that one.)  “Was I worth it?” I asked him.  He rolled his eyes and said sarcastically “Let me get back to you on that one.”  And then he said “Seriously though, have you ever thought about how many girls WOULDN’T have married me because of Precious?”  Precious was his pet tarantula.  He got her the year before we started dating and had her until she died of old age a couple of years after we got married.  So yes, I lived with a tarantula.  She honestly didn’t bother me very much though.  I’ve never been terribly afraid of spiders—mainly just snakes and frogs—and she stayed in her cage all the time, so it’s wasn’t like we had a giant free-range spider roaming around.  What he said got me thinking, and I couldn’t really think of many people that would’ve been okay sharing a house with a big, fat, hairy spider, but I really didn’t mind.  So maybe I’m not SUCH a chicken.  And I told him, I really think I did have a snake phobia, and although I still am uncomfortable and creeped out by them, I’m obviously not phobic or I wouldn’t have been crazy enough to do what we did today. 

Are you ready for some pictures?  Proceed with caution!  ;)

 

 

Here's the guy with the big boa.  Selah isn't usually shy, but she was hiding her face because the guy was talking to her, not because she was afraid of the snake.  This is the one we wound up petting.

This is the same snake.  Her owner dangled her down from his hand like that, and she saw all the people crowding around to look at her, and she stuck her head under his shirt.  Which creeped me out, but I really felt like sticking my head under somebody's shirt when I first saw her too, so the feeling was mutual. 

Here's a lady handing over her 16 year old python to my eager husband.

 

And here he is showing it to our daughter.  See how happy he looks?  Weirdo.

 

 

Of course, she had to touch it.  Little weirdo.

(But before you decide my crew is too strange, keep in mind a lady came up, scooped this snake out of Brad's hands, and talked baby talk to it.  *IwillnotjudgeIwillnotjudgeIwillnotjudge*)

 

Here's Selah holding a baby bearded dragon.

 

And here's some full grown bearded dragons.  Seriously, how many pets do you know that can pull off a spiked collar like that?  Aren't they cool?

 

Korban liked this one.

 

And here's what creeped me out the most.  Remember when I said that it was mostly people selling exotic pets?

 

Pre-packaged snakes, as far as the eye could see!  I just kept thinking, what if someone knocks a table over and they get out and go everywhere?!?  *insert full body shudder*

 One of our funniest moments of the day occurred when Korban saw all those little snakes in the clear containers.  He looked them over, and then looked up at us and asked "Are those gummy worms?"  We totally cracked up and the guy selling them said that was one he'd never heard before. 

 

Ever wonder what a giant toad in a takeout container would look like?  Well, here you go!  Yes, those are toads.  I text my friend Carla this picture, and she thought they were brownies. I've gotta say, the resemblance is striking.  And I don't love frogs, but I felt sorry for these guys, all squished in there like that.  :(

 

 

I thought that little turtle was cute, but certainly not $75.00 worth of cute!  Sorry, Mr. Turtle.

 

I tried to hard to get a picture of my three favorite people under the inflatable snake head, and this one with Korban holding his balloon in front of his face is the best I got.  Strangely enough, the inflatable snake head was the ONLY thing there that Korban was afraid of. 

 

 

 

We did some other fun things, that thankfully did not involve reptiles, and I will post the rest of that at a later date.  I figure I've already given everybody enough to digest for one night.  But today was fun.  Here's to conquering fears, one cheap Groupon event at a time!  ;)

Sweet Saturday

We woke up feeling good Saturday morning, and ready to have some more fun.  We went downstairs to have some breakfast and saw that they were having an open house for the community that day.  They had a lot of cute decorations put up, and some baseball players from the Birmingham Barons were coming for a visit.

After breakfast, we let the kids play outside on the playground, which they really enjoyed.  Selah found a bunch of roly-polies in the flower bed.  She loves bugs (except for ants!) and gathered up as many of them as she could and put them in a plastic mailbox that was on the playground.  I guess whoever opened the mailbox up after we left got a surprise!

When we went back inside, the baseball players were there.  We were just hanging back and watching, but their manager noticed us and waved us over.  Korban was kind of nervous, but the guys were so nice.  We tried getting a picture of him with them but he wouldn't be still long enough.  I told Brad that Korban photobombs himself.  Ha!  They were very patient and kind though, and even gave us an autographed baseball.

Here's Korban and the Barons...notice Korban is walking away and laughing as I snapped the pic.

And here's Brad and Selah with the guys. 

After that, we packed up and signed out.  We had decided the night before to drive back through Huntsville because there is a Sci-Quest museum there that we could get into free with our Pink Palace Membership.  We'd been there before over a year ago, and the kids liked it a lot, so we thought that would be fun for them.

Korban had himself a meltdown between Birmingham and Huntsville due to the fact that we got Domino's pizza for lunch instead of Papa John's, which apparently was a terrible, grievous error on our part.  At least according to Korban.  If you are wondering how he would know the difference or why it would matter, Papa John's has garlic butter, which  suddenly is vital to Korban's well-being.  But he got the meltdown out of his system by the time we got to Huntsville and was happy getting to go to the museum.

The Sci-Quest museum was a lot of fun.  It's a really neat place.  It's not huge, but it has a lot of cool stuff.  It's all hands-on stuff, and I love to see my kids learning in that way.

Korban thought he'd do a little laundry...

And then play the drums.  He has decided he wants a drum set for Christmas.  Dear Santa, please bring Mama some ear plugs!

Here's Selah scrubbing some vegetables.

But she got tired of me making pictures of her while she worked.  

They had a little disagreement about what needed to be cooked in the oven...

 

 

 ...and Selah decided to climb in and take measures into her own hands.  If you are wondering what the big deal was, Korban put a carrot into the oven, and Selah only likes raw carrots.  Don't worry, I explained to her that if this were a real oven, sticking your head in would be a big mistake.  If you don't believe me, read Hansel and Gretel. 

 

Korban let Selah take the carrot out, but he had the last laugh in this little drama.  He waited until she got interested in the next activity and then he ran back into the kitchen play area, tossed the carrot into the oven, and slammed the door.  Notice the guilty/triumphant look on his face as I caught him in the act.  I call this method "Male Conflict Resolution." 

 

Here's a little video of their sibling argument, which is pretty hilarious.  I especially love all the swatting at each other, without making contact.  Notice I did make them quit when they actually started hitting each other.  But these kinds of fights just make me laugh!  Listen for Selah telling Korban "Carrots aren't supposed to be tooked!" (cooked)

 

 

Here's Selah harvesting all the carrots from the garden.  She took them straight up to the kitchen and left them there. 

He looks like he's thinking "What is that guy doing?"

 

This thing was cool--you put the ball in the maze and shut the door and the air pressure sucked the ball through the maze.  The kids got a big kick out of it.

 

Here's Selah playing a giant game of Operation.  Pretty sure she's going to be in the medical profession one day!  ;)

This thing was supposed to simulate a tornado.  We walked up while another girl was in the booth with the door shut as the "tornado" swirled around her.  Korban stared for a minute and then asked bluntly "Is she gonna die?"  Yeah, have I ever mentioned he's Mr. Literal?  Tornado=Bad!  Selah was a little nervous about getting us, but when me or Brad tried to get in with her, Korban pitched a fit.  Apparently he didn't want any of us to die! 

 

This is a climbing wall that's made to look like skin.  All the climbing bumps are pimples, moles, etc.  Gross, huh?  Selah loved it.  I think she looks like Spiderwoman.

 

Fun on the shadow wall.

Selah had to bust out some dance moves!

Mommy and Korban's shadows.

This was a robot arm with balls to pick up. I think it reminded him of his dog game!

Korban looking in a mirror.  Love that sweet face!

Korban and Daddy making faces in the mirror.  Love those silly faces too!

Ever wondered what I'd look like tall?  Now you know.  I'm glad God made me short!  (Please notice Korban is flashing his belly and standing on his tiptoes.  He looks like some sort of ballerina bellydancer.  Ha!)

Selah was cracking herself up.  Also, this is the only time in my life I've ever been "all legs."  And the 18 feet of plaid torso is Korban.  Later I asked Korban what his favorite part of the museum was and he said "Looking in the mirrors and laughing."  I think that was my favorite part too. 

We had a blast, and on the way home we were talking about taking the kids to the drive-in in Iuka because Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University were both playing.  We really wanted to go, but weren't sure we should spend the money.  Up until then, we hadn't really spent anything but gas money, which we had to spend to get Korban to his infusion, and a little on food.  When we got home, I checked the mail.  There was a card from one of our sweet family members, just saying she was thinking about us and wanted to send us a little something to do something nice for the kids.  The card had $20.00 in it.  It cost $14.00 to get into the movies, plus $5.00 for a large drink and popcorn.  That equals $19.00, so we actually made a dollar off the movies we were wanting to see.  Which is a funny way of saying it, but we were so blessed to be able to take the kids and end the night in a relaxing way.  They loved seeing those movies and behaved the best they ever have, even though we had had such a busy weekend.  They were exhausted and fell asleep on the way home.  Korban passed out clutching the inflatable airplane he got at Treetop.  Thank the Lord for a great weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blessings and Van Victories

Some of you may remember me posting last week about how Korban had thrown a sippy cup he was able to learn over and get out of his sister's seat, breaking the front windshield of our van.  I was very worried because we had come to realize that something HAD to be done about Korban being able to move around in his booster seat.  It wasn't keeping him or any of the rest of us safe.

I asked for opinions on car seats for bigger kids--and if anyone had any ideas on how to keep him safely restrained while riding.  I got some good feedback, which I really appreciated.  But last Tuesday we got a message from a friend of ours, who is also a parent of a special needs child.  Her sweet boy is several years older than Korban--we actually met this precious family when I was pregnant with Korban.

The message said that she had a Britax car seat specially made for bigger children--the weight limit with the harness goes up to 80 lbs.  It's a large, sturdy car seat that she used for her son, but he has now outgrown it and they would like to pass it on to us.  No charge.  They'd like for us to have it. 

We were blown away.  Another need that God used a friend to meet. Such a blessing!  We were so excited.  I went to our friends house and picked up the seat on Wednesday.  She even helped me install it!  Her daughter kept Korban occupied while we worked on the seat.  You can definitely tell she's a good big sister--Korban was quite smitten with her.  Selah would've joined in the fun, but she was passed out asleep in her own car seat.  They played with a big beach ball that Korban liked.  It was very funny, because when it was time to go, I pulled into their carport a little so that I could back up and turn around and Korban was worriedly shouting "Don't run over the beach ball!  Don't run over the beach ball!"  Never mind their house, vehicles, or the fact that my friend and her daughter were standing there waving good-bye at us, just please don't crush their beach ball!

Our friend was worried that Korban might protest the harness, especially when he realized his limited mobility, but I wasn't too worried about it.  For one thing, he was sad when he outgrew his old car seat and didn't like the booster.  He kept asking for me to buckle him in.  He didn't like the loose seat belt and felt uncomfortable.  I mentioned this to Korban's ABA guy, and he commented that as much as Korban likes deep pressure, he should really like the seat.

And he does!  He calls it his "big boy car seat" and when we get out of the van and the door shuts, he always asks me where his big boy car seat went, just to make sure it's still in there.  So sweet.  We were very thankful we got the car seat when we did, because we got a doctor's appointment in Southaven on Thursday and Korban's infusion in Birmingham on Friday. 

So we were on the road a lot last week, and the car seat really did make things so much easier.  We just have to remember to take Korban's shoes off because that's pretty much the only thing he can get to now.  Ha!  Overall, his behavior was better though.  I think he is riding more comfortably and feels more secure and there's much less worry for me and Brad. 

Many, many thanks to our friend for blessing us in this way.  It is much appreciated!

Korban on the way to Birmingham early Friday morning.  Riding in the "big boy car seat" and wearing headphones, which was another first for him.  He's very sensitive to sound, but also sensitive to things touching his face and has never been able to wear headphones to help block noises.  This was the first time ever, and he was listening to a movie in the van.  Very calm and relaxed.  We haven't been able to get headphones on him since then, but we are hoping it's a step in that direction. 

 

We also love this car seat because it has a place for him to rest his head when he goes to sleep, instead of it just flopping all over the place. 

Selah is our blanket baby.  She always has to have a blanket to cover up with, even during the summer!

Also, another set of friends recently blessed us with this iTikes toy.  It's like a Magna Doodle for the iPad.  Very cool!  Korban loves it, but we can't let him play with it in the van so Selah gets a turn with it.  This thing kept her busy for our entire two-hour ride to Southaven on Thursday!

 

 

Last week was very busy but also very full of blessings.  To God be the glory!!!

 

 



July's Infusion Day

Friday was Korban’s monthly infusion day.  We had kind of been planning on this being a big day, because earlier in the year Brad bought some passes to a place called Treetop Family Fun Center off of his beloved Groupon.  It’s a place with arcade type games, and mini bowling, Go-Karts, etc.  We knew the kids would love it, and it was already paid for, but it was about to expire.  Brad wanted to use it last month, but we didn’t get to, and we knew this was the last chance we’d have. 

We had been trying for a while to see if we could stay at the Ronald McDonald House across from the hospital the night before his infusion so we wouldn’t have to get up so early to drive.  Also, since Korban loves hotels so much we thought it might put him in a good mood for the infusion and maybe  make that process easier.  We hadn’t been able to work it out yet, so we just drove up early Friday morning.  Korban was nervous but he waited until we got to the bathroom to throw up this time, bless him. 

He still amazes me at how verbal he is getting, even when he is upset.  When we were holding him down for the IV, he told me “Ow, Mom, that really hurts!” and then when they got it in on the second try he told me “The needle’s in!”  Poor sweet boy. 

Once we got that going, he settled down and drifted off to sleep, after his daddy taking him on a short wagon ride through the halls.  He slept through pretty much the whole thing, and Selah watched TV and played.  The nice volunteer lady painted her again.  She asked for a dragon, and the lady looked a little surprised at this cute little girl asking for a dragon, but I explained that we had rented some episodes of the “How to Train Your Dragon” TV show from Redbox, and the kids had been watching it.  So she told her she could pick the colors, and Selah picked purple, pink, and blue so it wound up being a girly dragon after all. 

It usually takes from around 8:00-2:00, sometimes longer.  And we get up before 4:00 a.m. to get ready and drive over, so it’s pretty exhausting.  But we felt pretty good and were excited to go have some fun, so off we went to find the Treetop Family Fun Center.  The kids were really excited about it, and we had quite a bit of arcade credits and attractions to use, which Brad said he paid $15.00 for back when he bought the Groupon.  Not too shabby! 

We stayed there for quite a while, and it was a blast.  It was so hot outside, we opted to do mostly indoor attractions.  Selah was looking forward to the bouncy houses, but it was so hot that they weren’t even blown up, which was probably a wise decision. We choose the bowling (indoors!) over the outdoor mini golf.  We actually did several rounds of bowling.  Korban loves to bowl, and Selah enjoys it too.  The only thing we chose to do outside was the Go-Karts.  We went to check those out for Korban, since he enjoyed the ones at Incredible Pizza so much when we were there a couple of months ago.  He liked watching these for a distance, but refused to get on them because they were too loud.  They really were pretty loud!  Selah; however, jumped at the chance to ride fast in a car with her daddy and me and Korban cheered them on.  I totally cracked up the first lap they made, because when they came flying around the curve, Brad was driving with on hand because Selah was clinging to his other arm for dear life.  Her curls were blown straight back from her face, but I could tell from the look on her face she found it very exhilarating.  After the first lap she wasn’t even holding on anymore.  She wanted to ride again later, and she said she wanted Korban and Daddy to ride in a car together and me and her to ride in one.  I declined, saying Korban didn’t want to ride and I don’t drive Go-Karts.  “It’s okay, Mama!” she chirped, completely undeterred.  “I’ll drive!” I’m sure she would’ve given it a go, but we were able to talk her into letting Daddy drive and her just be a passenger. 

They had a big indoor playground that was free for ages 0-3, and it was really nice.  Selah wouldn’t go in there by herself at first.  Remember, my kids are used to me playing in these playgrounds with them!  It cost us an attraction for Korban, but that wasn’t the reason I didn’t want him going in there.  There were tons of kids playing in there when we first got there, and I was so afraid he would get in there and be aggressive towards some of the children without me being there to stop him.  It’s always something to think about.  After a while, the crowd cleared out some and Selah went in to play.  She found a little boy about her age, and they had a lot of fun together.  Korban kept asking to go in to play, and we finally agreed to let him.  We swiped our game card to pay for the attraction, and I went in the first part of it with him.  It was built like a giant tree house, with multiple levels.  By this time, Selah and her little friend were the only other kids playing in it.  Once we got in there, Korban wouldn’t do anything because he wanted me to go with him.  He got upset because I couldn’t, even though I tried explaining that it was just for kids and not adults, but he started to scream and I put him in time-out on the backside of the treehouse.  (Yes, I did.)  After a while, the dad of Selah’s little buddy made him leave.  (Maybe because we were scaring him, I'm not sure.)  My kids were the only two left in there, and Selah was able to convince Korban to go up in the tree with her.  But he sat down in one level to check it out, and she went on without him and then he wanted down and couldn’t figure out how to get down, so he was upset.  I called to Selah and told her to go help him, but she couldn’t figure out how to get back to where he was at.  I felt sorry for both of them, but it was really pretty funny, watching from the ground as both of my kids ran back and forth on totally different levels of this giant treehouse, calling for each other. 

Korban was really starting to get upset after a while.  I looked over at the attendant, and he was absorbed in a book, so up in the treehouse went this mama.  I prayed as I climbed that I didn’t break anything.  Meaning anything in the treehouse, but after I banged my head on one of the narrow passages I thought I might should maybe say a prayer for myself too.  I was able to reunite both my children and they were both super excited that mom had finally come to play.  There was this giant tube slide that they both wanted to go down, but refused to do without me.  (Do they get together and plan this stuff?  Seriously.)

There was a crawling tube to go through before the slide, and both the kiddos moved aside to let me go first.  Of course, right?  So I got on my hands and knees and started shuffling across.  Midway through, the tube, which was positioned on an upward slant, started shifting rapidly into a downward slant.  The thing was moving, and I totally though I had broken this playset and was about to crash out of it, probably right on top of the attendant.  I might’ve shrieked and flailed around for a minute grabbing at anything that seemed stable, I’m not sure.  I was busy watching my life flash before my eyes.  Then I realized that the thing was made to tilt and that was just part of the fun.  “See, Mama?” Selah called to me, as I lay prostrate on the platform.  “That’s why I was scared to go across it.”  Thanks for telling me that BEFORE I got in the middle of it, honey!  Korban surprised me by scooting across it, and I have to say he handled it a lot better than I did.  Selah was still nervous, but I was able to hold it steady so she could cross.  Then we still had the slide to get down.  I read somewhere that it isn’t safe to slide with kids in your lap.  Something about their legs might get trapped between you and the slide and broken, so I try to avoid doing that.  Usually we do a little train down the slide, and I have to go first, but this time Korban positioned himself at the beginning of the slide and looked back over his shoulder at us for reassurance.  “Go for it!” I told him.  “I’m right behind you.”  I planned on going between the two kids, but Selah wrapped herself around me and wouldn’t let go.  Then Korban had a last minute panic and refused to go.  So I gave him a little nudge with my foot.  (Not a kick, just a gentle push!)  And then I pushed myself off with my little leech stuck to me.  Now I’ve been on a lot of slides in my lifetime—probably more as a mom than during my own  childhood—but I’ve never been on one quite like this.  It was pitch black.  I mean, I couldn’t see anything.  We weren’t moving fast.  I had my feet up to slow us, and apparently Korban did the same thing because he stayed right in front of us and we talked to each other.  So we are slowly scooting blindly through this tube, and I can’t even tell which way we are going.  It was pretty freaky.  I was thinking in my head that this must be what the birthing process feels like from the babies’ perspective.  If I’m right about that, no wonder babies come into the world screaming. 

We popped out at the end, looking all crazy, with Brad standing there staring at us.  If the attendant ever noticed that I was illegally playing in a children’s treehouse, he gave no indication of it.  And somehow my children talked me into doing the whole thing over again.  I really feel like I could get through a military grade obstacle course after all that, but we enjoyed ourselves.   

We wound the kids down after that, and let them go pick out their treats with the tickets they had won.  Korban loves inflatables and airplanes, and they happen to have an inflatable airplane so he was happy, happy, happy.  Selah got several smaller items:  some plastic animals, a toy seal lion, and a ring.  Then we got them out the door. 

As we were leaving Birmingham, we passed a Target and I remembered that I still had some money on a gift card from way back.  I love love LOVE Target, so my sweet hubby pulled in and told me to go for it and he would sit in the car with the kids.  So I got to run around Target on my own for a little bit (Brad said it was a long bit) but anyway, I enjoyed it!

When I got back in the van, Brad informed me that the clerk from the Ronald McDonald House called while I was in Target and apologized for not having in vacancies on Thursday night but said that we were welcome to stay that night, as they had a room open that no one needed.  He jumped at the chance, since we were tired and three hours from home, and the kids were elated that we were going to a "hotel." 

 

We headed on over to the Ronald McDonald House and went in to get registered.  The clerk was a nice looking young man with long brown hair and a beard.  He complimented Selah on her cool tattoo right away and that made her happy.  A little later on Korban stared intently at the guy for several minutes and then asked him "Are you Jesus?"  We all cracked up, and then the guy said "No buddy, not even close."  I was thinking he looked sort of familiar....  I thought that was really sweet of Korban, and the guy was really nice too. 

I don't know how much you guys know about Ronald McDonald Houses, and other places that minister in the same way to families of children with health concerns, but they are awesome.  They even provide food.  Different groups donate meals, and the houses have a kitchen area set up for the families to eat in.  The Jesus clerk told us that they had feta chicken pasta, and there was plenty left, and to help ourselves because it was good.  It was seriously awesome.  Wish I had the recipe!  Anyway, I just wanted to explain how grateful we were that we were able to stay there and how nice everyone was to us. 

We let the kids play in the playroom and outside for a few minutes and then we called it a night.  I was sure glad we weren't on the road and it was so nice to lay down!  We had a good night's sleep and woke up feeling refreshed on Saturday.  Saturday also turned into a rather adventurous day, but this post in plenty long already, so I'm just going to do some pics and let Saturday have it's own post. 

This is Korban's absolute favorite arcade game.  He calls it "the dog game" and the point is to push the lever and get as many balls as possible into the dogs mouth.  Korban says the dog is hungry, and we need to feed it.  At home he uses our ball pit balls and throws them onto the top shelf of my closet and says he's playing the dog game.  Pretty clever, huh?

Here is Selah's pretty dragon.  She was so proud of it!

 

Selah scored 12,000 on skee ball all by herself, which blew my mind!

 

 

Korban LOVES bowling! 

 

 

Selah likes it too, and she made sure to only use the purple ball to bowl with.  Drama bowling!

 

Korban also loves basketball, and I have to say, he's pretty good at it! 

 

He also loves football.  Daddy's boy!

 

 

He even talked me into letting him play the big basketball game.  I didn't think he would even by able to get the ball over the barrier.  Let's just say he surprised me!

 

 

This is Korban stranded in the giant treehouse.

 

This is Selah running around looking for Korban.

 

And here are the kids on separate levels of the treehouse, calling for each other.

 

This is me, preparing to go in.  *Act nonchalant.  Be cool, be cool.*

 

This is Korban in the shifting tunnel that nearly gave me an embolism.  The picture quality isn't good, possibly because the tunnel was moving.  Or because my hand was still shaking.

 

Selah and Daddy on the Go-Karts!

 

And this is what Selah did after getting off the Go-Kart, when I asked her how she liked it.  Have I ever mentioned she tends to be just a little bit dramatic?

 

We took a break for Icees.  Korban had blue and Selah had red, and she wanted to try her brother's.  I had to post this because he doesn't share food very often and we thought it was sweet.  Ha!

 

 

 

We had a really good day and I truly thank God for letting us make those sweet memories.  I hate Korban has to have the infusions but I'm so, so thankful they help him be healthier and we are hoping that he remembers the fun stuff way more than the needles!