Water play is a "good thing, Martha!" (so are true friends)

Today, the kids and I spent the day at a local waterpark with some of our playgroup friends.
It was just fabulous!!

This was my first time at the park, even though we live MINUTES from it... I'm kicking myself now for waiting until so late in the summer season to "discover" it. Because, honestly, I'd like to live there, ALL day, EVERY day!

We only had one near-drowning when Avery and I were walking through the 1.5-foot-deep pool together and she tripped and fell face first in the water. Being the good mom that I am, I waited (only half a second or so... so relax, people!), to see if she would "right" herself and get up out of the water. The answer to that question: ummmm, NO. She just surrendered to the depths of the pool (did I mention that it's a whole foot and a half deep??) and saw her life flash before her eyes, I'm sure, before I reached down and scooped her up.

On a lighter note, much to my shock and amazement, Damon has supposedly TAUGHT HIMSELF to swim. Here I've been, stressing all summer about getting him in swim lessons and wondering "how on earth do people teach their kids to swim?? why can't they just be born with this skill and make my life easier!" And today, in the 1.5-foot-deep pool, Damon just simply started swimming... under water... not drowning! It was a proud Mommy Moment. *sniff, sniff*

Okay, but let's quit talking about those kids already... I wanna talk about me for a minute.

Today was a simply wonderful day for ME, too. I spent the entire day NOT on my computer working, NOT staring at my ten piles of laundry and wondering why they can't just clean themselves, NOT stuck in my house with no contact with the outside world... Today, I spent the day surrounded by some of my nearest and dearest ("real-time," HA!) friends.

I mentioned in a post a few days ago that, despite all of my moaning and groaning about my little life, I DO, in fact, count my blessings from time to time. And when I count those blessings, at the top of the list is my Mom's Group. I joined the "original" group when we moved back "here" in January 2005. Since then, the group has seen a lot of changes. And, as far as I'M concerned, they've all been for the better. Today, we are a fairly large group, and within it, several very close friendships have formed. I truly don't know how I survived my first 4 years of motherhood without these women in my daily life---to laugh with me when I'm happy, cry with me when I'm sad, and just simply UNDERSTAND what it's like to struggle with the ups and downs of staying home with children and surviving each and every day!

So, without further ado, and before I turn into a complete blubbering idiot, I just want to say to my Moms that you all mean more to me than you know, and I'm beyond grateful to have met you and been given the chance to share this "wild ride" with you.

So, back to the title of this post... Why is water play such a good thing, you ask? Well, because tonight, I tucked my children into bed... and instead of listening to shrieks of protest for an hour afterward (which is our normal "thing" around here at bedtime), the little darlings magically FELL ASLEEP without so much as a whimper. And, THAT, Martha, is why water play is a very, very "good thing!"

(ETA: After about 15 failed attempts to add pictures of our day to this post, for your viewing pleasure, I give up! Blogger is NOT my friend tonight... but I will try to add some pics later, and then reconsider my feelings for Blogger!)