Close Encounters of the BEST Kind

Last nite, the boys went to bed as usual. About fifteen minutes later, I heard Freddie yelling for me. Assuming he was just wanting to ask something asinine, like "What are we doing tomorrow?" I ignored him for a few minutes, but when he persisted, I went in. It's a good thing I did. His nose was bleeding - not badly, but it was enough to warrant a trip to the kitchen. Off we went to clean him up.

Afterwards, Jeremy asked if Freddie wanted to sit in his lap and watch a little "Bonanza" before bedtime. OF COURSE, he did, and since it was still only about 8:30, I didn't argue about it. About fifteen minutes later, I put Freddie back in bed.

Well, because it was so much darker than it usually is when he goes to bed, he screamed bloody murder. I went back to his room, and he said, "Mama, I'm just scared," so I scooped him up and rocked him and reminded him that "When I am afraid, I will trust in Him" and that God is always with us even though we can't see Him.

We sang some more and prayed, and then I put Freddie back to bed.

Again.

I'd barely gotten down the hall when he yelled out, "Mama! Come look!" I walked back to his room. "I can see the moon," he said, super excited about the fact. "I'll bet God moved that there, so that you would have more light in your room. That's how much He loves you, Buddy." When I left his room, Freddie was reveling in his new view.

I decided I'd go ahead and take my bath (like I used to do with my own parents, Freddie likes it when I'm in his "quadrant" of the house at bedtime). After a few minutes, Freddie yelled at me, out of nowhere, "That was nice of Him to move the moon."

I smiled, knowing that my baby boy had encountered the God of the universe - the Maker of Heaven and Earth, the Star Breather, the Mover of the Moon, Who, nonetheless, knows the number of hairs on Freddie's head. It must've made a pretty big impact on Freckle, too, because he hadn't been up for ten minutes before he'd told both his Daddy and his brother about how God had moved the moon to meet Freddie's need.

I hope and pray he's always that in awe of the One Who loves him to the moon and back again.

Daddy's Super-Great, Amazing Idea

Jeremy has wanted to take the boys Splash Country, since Jones was an infant. I'm not kidding. His family used to go en masse every Summer, so taking the boys has been a part of Jeremy's plan from the very beginning.

Believe it or not, I've been the hold-out. I'd only been to Splash Country once - with Jeremy's family, the Summer he and I were engaged - and I only remembered one very tiny section for kids, so always before when he'd bring it up, I'd put it off, saying, "I just feel like they're still too little."

Well, earlier this week, he told me he had a surprise for the boys and me. He'd bought tickets to something we'd be doing this Saturday. It didn't take long for me to get it out of him: we were going to Splash Country. I was so grateful that he'd planned a Family Fun Day that I didn't even mention how unsure I was about the idea. I just rolled with the flow.

And I'm glad that I did.

Now that we're home, I can say with certainty that I was the one in the wrong. The boys had a complete and total BALL at Splash Country - or "Dollywood's Splash Country," as Jones called it  (Freddie called it "the water Dollywood"). They had so much fun, in fact, that Jeremy thinks in a couple of years, they'll prefer the water park to the theme park.

Maybe they will. They surely loved the time we spent there today.

Jones especially loved the Lazy River. I think we did it about nine times, and I'm not exaggerating. Most of the time, we didn't even use the tubes - we just swam and / or walked through the 2.5 feet of water. Jones also loved the Wave Pool. It was while we were in it that I realized he can swim under water - and he actually really loves to do it. I was as proud as I was surprised!

Jones did NOT like the Raging River Rapids. He tried it - which thrilled me; I wasn't sure he would - but when we'd ask if he wanted to go again, he'd respond a very resolved, "NO CHANCE."

Freddie's favorites were the water slides. When Jeremy jokingly asked if Freddie wanted to do the 70 foot drop of Fire Tower Falls, Freddie excitedly answered, "Yes!" Since he's still about seven inches too short for that (thank GOD), he was just as happy hitting up all the slides he WAS tall enough to do. I did them all with him, and it was absolutely awesome - especially the three at the Bear Mountain Fire Tower. He and I looped those suckers about six times each.

To cap off our great day, we were given rain checks for all four of us to return to the park for free. Sometime between when we went to get on our dry clothes and when we walked out of the park, they closed the water due to expected storms. As a result, they gave us a free day, which was totally unexpected but incredibly appreciated.

Needless to say, we are already planning the Pressley Family's Triumphant Return to "the Water Dollywood."

Good call, Daddy.

I appreciate Jeremy mentioning how
yesterday's mascara gave me RACCOON EYES
{eye roll}. Still, I like this family selfie!

(Oh, and also ... since Freddie started swim lessons, he's wanted "Spider-man clothes" to be his surprise for learning how to swim. Naturally, as soon as he took off his lifejacket and did his thing at last Monday's lesson, we ordered the Spidey swimsuit he picked out. It came in yesterday - just in time to wear it today, but not before asking his daddy if he could sleep in it last nite (he did). When we pulled into the Splash Country parking lot, my little clotheshorse said, "I hope everyone likes my bathing suit." How could they NOT?! Also, in spite of aforementioned swim lesson success, Freddie still wore a lifejacket most of the day. It was his request. He said it made him feel safer, and so we agreed to it.)

Freddie's Major Milestone

You'll never guess what happened today ...



This has been a long time coming. Freddie's been in official lessons, since this Spring, but his swimming REALLY picked up as we spent so much time in the water at the lake this Summer.

Though he was absolutely TERRIFIED, Mrs. Robin decided today was the day to push her little birdie out of the nest, and HE FLEW! Well, he swam, as you can see. What you can't hear, though, is his WAILING as he did it. He was absolutely scared to death - you can't hear his cries of horror over my own cries of jubilation. As soon as I fished him out of the water, he said something along the lines of, "I am never coming back here again."

Oh, but you are, Little Buddy.

It was such a great occasion that his daddy left the office for a few minutes to meet us for a celebratory cone of Freddie's favorite "green ice cream" (Mint Chocolate Chip).

It'll be a few weeks of his gaining confidence before I let him swim in the pool without his jacket - and years before I won't require one in the lake - but still, there is GREAT peace of mind from knowing that BOTH of my boys are finally - FINALLY! - official swimmers. Woohoo!

And yes, I DID say BOTH of my boys are swimming now. The reason there wasn't a post like the when Jones finally took off is because his was a relatively slow roll. He was doing great - swimming on his own earlier this Spring.

Then, somehow, he got terrified of the water. It was the strangest thing. He'd go to his lessons and pitch a fit out of the fear, even though he'd been flat out swimming for MONTHS. Mrs. Robin said it was probably best not to keep up with lessons - that we may scare him out of the water altogether - so I took her advice and just kept taking Freddie.

Then, when pool season started at my parents' house, Jones was swimming, pretty as you please. He's only gotten stronger with all of the time we spent at the lake this Summer, so we can officially cross "learn to swim" off of this Summer's Bucket List (which, lest you think I'm a Pinterest mom, we totally don't even have).

Let the fun begin.

a Golden Ticket

A few months ago, the boys discovered a Tom & Jerry adaptation of "Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory." They have absolutely loved watching it, so while we were at the lake this Summer, I decided it was time they see the real thing.

Immediately, they were as transfixed by it as I was, asking to be Oompa Loompas for Halloween and, today, saying they wanted to "do like Charlie Bucket" when I told them they could rest on the couch instead of napping in their beds.

That's why Grandpa Jones and Grandpa Freddie there are lying foot to foot.

I love the way their tiny minds work. Sometimes, they are so very, very similar to their mama's.

Build-a-"Baby"

I had never even heard of Build-a-Bear's "Pay Your Age" promotion. 

Then, last Wednesday afternoon, I got a call from my favorite 18 year old. He wanted to know if the boys like stuffed animals, told me about the deal, and asked if he could take the boys. I couldn't say "Yes" and "You are the greatest kid in the world" fast enough, so bright and early Thursday morning, the boys and I boarded "the Cat Car" (which Jones wants to rename "Elasti-girl's car," a change with which I am TOTALLY okay) and headed South. 

By the time we got to Haywood Mall - it was probably 11:30 or so - every Greenvillian under the age of 6 was standing in a line outside Build-a-Bear. In fact, they'd cut off the line just before we got there, which was a God-send. There was no debating whether or not to wait (I'd NEVER have waited in that line, by the way), AND we were handed vouchers for two free bears as soon as we arrived. 

I hadn't told the boys what we were doing. The surprise was Doodoo's to reveal, I thought. Plus, until Thursday, Jones and Freddie wouldn't have known the phrase "Build-a-Bear" from "biblical eschatology" (they've both built a bear before - with gift cards from Auntcy - but they were babies and certainly don't remember the experience), so they were pretty easy to pacify with, "We'll do it tomorrow" - especially after I confirmed that there were both bear-sized Spiderman AND Captain America costumes to be bought.

The bears even went to the
barber shop with us.

As a back-up plan, we went to Frankie's Fun Park. Camden bought the boys milkshakes at the on-site Johnny Rockets, and then the boys went swimming with Bobo at Mayme and Pop's house. They were as happy with Plan B as they'd have been with Plan A, though they did remind me at least 1000 times between then and bedtime that we'd be building a bear after their "long snooze."

And that's just what we did. 

We got to the Asheville Mall just after it opened. While we did have a little wait, it was more like a perfectly-palatable 20 minutes, as opposed to the 7.5 hours it'd have taken the day before. The way the boys have loved on and played with those bears ever since they brought them home, however, I'm kinda wondering if even the 7.5 hours would've even been worth it. 

Here are some pics and videos demonstrating the boys' fond affections for their precious "babies."

Mrs. Pressley gave the boys some old flip phones,
which they took with us on the outing, too.
Here's Jones "taking" Captain America's picture ... 

... and showing Captain America the picture he took.

Those phones haven't worked in five years.
Don't tell THEM that.

The bears joined us at Whole Foods,
which Freddie calls "the little buggy store,"
for obvious reasons.