Wet 'n' Wild 'n' Walloped.

This summer, the biggest water park in Nevada opened up precisely 4 miles from our house. A dream come true, right? We hemmed and hawed about getting season passes, since I'm large and charge these days and there wasn't much for Teagan to do. But she was free and we figured we'd get a whole lotta use out of the passes. Especially since they were open until 8:00 on weeknights. With Brandon getting home between 5 & 6, we thought we'd head up there a couple of nights a week after he got home and wear Teagan out just before bedtime. And what with me not having a car, I wouldn't be able to go during the day unless a friend invited us, and who's to say that our kids will want to do the same things? A brilliant plan on our part to get plenty of use out of it, we thought. 

We were out of town as the park opened but as soon as we got back, I told Teagan we were going to a water park and although she didn't really know what that meant, she caught the excitement. We were dressed, packed and sunscreened anxiously awaiting Brandon getting home from work, ready to execute our foolproof plan.

 

Except that the powers that be changed the hours of the park without updating their website. So we found ourselves all sunscreened up with nowhere to go at 5:45 PM when they turned us away. I don't know if you've ever promised a 2 year old something, gotten them dressed for said something, made it out of the car all the way to the gates of something and had to turn back. Not an easy task. She handled it much better than I thought she would, but as a mother, I couldn't bear disappointing her so - the girl is a fish and the prospect of swimming is always exciting for her. So I started going through my mental rolodex (also no easy feat these days) of our friends that had access to swimming pools. After a few attempts, we got through to my friend Amy who told us we were more than welcome to swim at her community's pool. Hallelujah! Teagan loves the water and loves pretending. She clung to the pole on the steps claiming that she was "Just like Diego!" I say "You can take the girl out of Vegas..."

 

Love him.

I love watching my little girl "swimming" so confidently. I love even more watching her swim towards her daddy.

 

 Who needs the rides at a water park? Isn't that what dads are for?

We swam all by ourselves for quite some time. What, I ask could be better than having a pool to yourself? Having some of your favourite people arrive unexpectedly to swim as well. Our friends, The Statens and The Wilsons came to swim and Teagan loved playing with their little girls. We swam for a couple of hours and thoroughly enjoyed the after-effects of Teagan sleeping in until the 8 o'clock hour. Granted, she toddled into our room in the middle of the night and never left, but nevertheless, bliss.

We did make it to Wet 'n' Wild enough to get our money's worth, mostly Teagan and I tagging along with friends, but we decided to make a night of it as a family one Friday night. Hearing that it hadn't been crowded on Friday nights, we thought we were in the clear. But it happened to be a Dive In Movie night, so there were more people there than I was comfortable with. But we braved the Wave Pool, which Teagan LOVES. Particularly when her Daddy is there, because he takes her all the way to the deep end. She's so brave. We did a few rounds on the Lazy River, where she insists on swimming by herself, so Brandon and I float in our tubes and do our best to hold onto her lifejacket (which she detests.) Then we thought we'd head to Paradise Cove, the "kiddie area" that is a little too advanced for Teagan. The water is freezing and she'd never shown an interest. Until now. And she'll never show an interest again. She waded into the water and was having a great time and then a crowd started to gather. Brandon and I looked up at the very moment the infamous 300 gallon bucket of water began to lean ominously. We glanced at eachother briefly, apparently not long enough for me to effectively convey my message of "GET HER NOW." There were so many people congregating that Brandon couldn't quite reach her before all 300 gallons pummeled our baby into the ground, completely leveling her. I'm not being dramatic, she was in the worst possible place at the worst possible time and she took the brunt of it. Broke my heart. Brandon scooped her up from her hands and knees and she cuddled with him for the better part of an hour while we sat and peoplewatched until she was cold enough to want to go home. Not exactly the way we envisioned our family night going, but it ended very sweetly with out-of-character snuggles.
Next year we may just stick with community pools. Take that, Wet 'n' Wild!

{Post date: 8.9/2013}

Teagan's Besties

We've raised a bit of a social butterfly. She loves her friends! She's generally friendly to everyone, but a girl has to have some besties, right?

We've made great friends with Natalie, Jason and their kids who live a hop, skip and jump away so we go over there A LOT. Teagan knows when we're getting close and starts yelling "SHASHEE!" (Sydney) "SHASHON!"(Carson) It's kind of hilarious. And the dramatic gasp I mentioned earlier? That started at the Giffords. We knocked on their door and when she hear footsteps, she gasped. When she heard the lock clicking, she hyperventilated. When Natalie and her kids opened the door, her excitement couldn't be contained. This was months ago, and she does it every time. A little ego boost for them every time we visit. While they're older than Teagan they always play very sweetly with her. She talks about them constantly and wanders the house saying "Shashee, where are you?" When we visited Canada, she popped up in the middle of the night and yelled "Shason, I love you!" Not soon after, Natalie told me something Carson said just before his nap: "I will grow bigger all by myself and I will marry Teagan." It's meant to be!

 

We have a beautiful back-and-forth babysitting relationship with our friends down the street, the Statens. Well, it's beautiful for us at least. They're our go-to people for last minute errands and quick trips that you'd rather not lug a toddler. on. We watch their cute kids from time to time, but if anything, it makes our lives easier. Exhibit A: How much Teagan and Livvy love eachother. (I know Teagan's "fair" but next to Livvy she's translucent!)

"OOK", a.k.a Luke is so sweet to her as well. He will drop everything and play with her and it's adorable to watch. He was kind enough to let her assist in choosing that evening's episode of Psych.

And last, but certainly not least, her good buddy Keaton. "Keat" is the magic word to get her out of bed in a good mood. The promise of seeing "Deat" as she calls him makes her pop up with a smile on her face. He is less than a month older than her, so they're adorable together. He's the smartest just-turned-two year old I know. He's really aware of his surroundings and the way he strings words together always surprises me. Hillary is so sweet to pile three car seats in her backseat and drive us to different activities and even take us to the gym as her guest. They live down the street, so we hang out a lot. It's so nice to watch Keat & T play with eachother and chat with Hillary about parenting triumphs and challenges, with them being at the same stage - of course she has more to worry about bless her heart, she has an 8 month old too!) We went to Chuck E. Cheese with them back in July and Keat was supposed to be in the photos, but jumped out of the booth at just the wrong time...twice! He's so funny - no wonder Teagan likes to hang out with him!

We are absolutely loving where we live. We'd love to have family close by, but the amazing friends we've made are the next best thing. Most of us don't have family near, so we all rely on eachother. So glad that my friends' babies get along with my baby and she gets to see so much of her besties.