"That's my daddy!"

The South Carolina Children's Theatre will always be the Children's Theatre of my heart, but man. Discovering that Asheville Community Theatre has Saturday programming for kids sure will save us some road time on weekends (For the record, I'll still excitedly do the MainStage shows at SCCT)!

Today, we went to watch "The Pirate of Bully Bay." Presented by Asheville's own Bright Star Theatre Company, it was a very age-appropriate approach to bullying, and the boys - especially Jones, naturally - LOVED it. Without a doubt, their favorite part was when Jeremy was picked to go up on stage and play the part of Peg Leg Stu. As soon as Jeremy "found his light" just to the left of center stage, Jones very loudly and VERY proudly exclaimed for all to hear, "That's my daddy!"

That vote of confidence is probably the only way a very nervous Jeremy was able to improvise his few lines without falling completely apart. He did an outstanding job, thrilling his boys. Afterwards, we enjoyed cookies and milk in the theatre lobby, and I am beginning to think I have found my Theatre Buddy in Bobby Jones. Yay!

JEREMY DOES THIS EXACT SAME THING WITH
HIS HAND IN FRONT OF HIS FACE.

 

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.)

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

As we celebrated my 40th birthday a few months ago, we celebrated Jeremy's last nite. All along, he's been VERY curious as to why his party was almost a month before his actual birthday. What he didn't know is that his former golf coach had agreed to fly in from Washington state for the big event, so as soon as Randy said, "Yes," I said, "We'll plan things around you." It turned out that a month before Jeremy's birthday worked best for him, so we made that work for us - mostly by giving Jeremy some line about how the venue was booked all of September with Pisgah High School class reunions.

It worked. 

Jeremy was completely surprised when Randy walked in and joined the receiving line that had informally taken shape. It was an amazing moment. In fact, when Jeremy realized who it was, he hugged him. Then, he backed away to talk and brought it in again for another hug. I saw the two of them talking all nite, which was exactly what I wanted to have happen. It was awesome.

So were all of the rest of the guests. It was so wonderful to see them all - and I have to brag on my boys a little bit. They were EXCEPTIONALLY well behaved while their Nana and I decorated the Milltown Place earlier in the day on Friday. For an hour or so, they both sat so quietly in their seats (they pretended they were their "desks"), playing with whatever was left in their backpacks from our Boston trip (this was their "work"). I'd dreaded having them there with us, assuming they'd be all over the place and into everything, but boy, did they prove me wrong - and, in so doing, they made me very, very proud. I took a video (so I could text it to Brooke) so I would never forget.

That nite, they had a ball - visiting with their cousins (Ellery and Evan were there, as were Bobo and DooDoo) and making new buddies. Walker and Jack Miller were fast friends with Freddie. When they left, Freddie asked if those "Choc-it Boys" (they both have brown hair) could come to our house. I told their mama, Maria, that the next day. She said her boys had been asking the same thing! Baxter and Asa Hood were also a ton of fun for the boys to get to know.

The next day, they got to know Mr. Randy. Jeremy and Randy spent the morning together and then came home to take the boys for their first official golf lesson. We all headed up to Springdale, where Mr. Randy gave Jones and Freddie the same sort of instruction he'd given their daddy a really, REALLY long time ago.  When we left, Freddie asked if we could go back again. I'm sure we can.

OH! And lest I forget - Mr. Randy gave ME one of the best presents I have ever gotten. He brought me a file from a circa 1992 news story about Jeremy. The file format couldn't be recognized by my computer, so I played it on Randy's laptop and recorded it on my camera. Let me just tell you: it is a TREASURE. 

So was this wonderful weekend with so many who mean so much to Jeremy - and to me and the boys, too! 

Happy birthday to the man who is finally as old as I am ... well, almost.