Stages of fear

Seeing that this is the first time we have lived so close to a theme park, we thought it would be a decent idea to buy season passes to Six Flags as summer entertainment. The theme park is only about a 40 minute drive...and yesterday, we decided to take the boys for a day of fun.

Jason is finally tall enough to start riding some of the more extreme roller coasters. He's gone on a few that I would never have attempted at his age. However, he does so with a bit of hesitation and fear. Not that either ever stops him...he's a trooper and doesn't mind testing his limits...or mine for that matter. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to sit across from him on the Conquistador huge pendulum swing and snap a few pictures. These were posted in the order taken. And then at the end is a few more pictures from our day.



"Not that I'll need this, but rules are rules....time to strap in."

"I can handle this...piece of cake...."

As the ride swings higher and more aggressively, notice his hands come down from above his head to beside his cheeks...."just in case."

And just before the ride really starts to kick in, Jason thinks he is big man on campus.

Bravery is at its peak, the hands go up again. "No Biggie.".....until...

"Whoa...this rides getting pretty intense. Let me just hold on for a second. I'll get my hands up again...I just need to catch my grip."

"Ok....we're getting a little too high and I'm not so sure about this anymore."

What HAVE I gotten myself into?!?

OK... this is not FUN ANYMOOORE!

I'M SERIOUS!!!! STOP THIS RIDE AND LET...ME...OFF...BEFORE...I...CRAP...MYSELF!!!!!
The worst part is over you say? Ok then, I think I can handle it from here.
Hey...this isn't so bad after all.

I SURVIVED! Yeah, let's do this again....right after I change my drawers, that is.

I'm back

I can't tell you how good I feel right now. I've been traveling for the last three weeks and am finally back at home. My first day back, I slept until 4:00 pm, if that is any indication of how exhausted I was. But now I feel recharged. I've had a couple of days to recoup and am getting back into the everyday life tasks around here. One of which includes my blogging. So, allow me to rejoin you. Right now, I am sitting on my overstuffed couch and tapping away at the keys on my laptop while I sip on my 2nd concoction of Starbucks Liqueur and 2%. And just to top off this nice atmosphere, let me tell you that Prince's new joints are currently tickling my eardrums (not his best work). Even so, I tell you; life is good right about now.

When I last posted here on my blog, I was off to Cincinnati to help some friends do a show. To make a long story short, one show turned into two which turned into an added trip to Phoenix to help out with reprinting most of their gear. Anyway, the second show was on the outskirts of Minneapolis, so you know I was on the verge of a major orgasm the whole time. For those of you who don't know, Prince lives in a small town outside of Minneapolis. Yeah, when we drove through his hometown, it took every ounce of self restriction to not drive straight to Paisley Park and plant myself there until my little obsession showed up. Had the family not been with me, I'm sure I would have at least driven by to take some pictures. Next year, for sure!

Anyway, I'm glad to be back home...but am a bit bummed that my work with them (GTWO) is over for now. My friends, the Jacksons, who I do all these shows with...they are good people. We share the same sense of humor, values and interests. They are just fun people to hang with and every time we get together, it's a blast. No matter if we're just hanging out to have some fun or if we're busting our tails working...it's all good. Needless to say, I wish that we could get together more often.

While I was away during these three weeks, my youngest son Keegan turned two. I honestly can't believe that he's two already. It just seems like yesterday when I was holding him in my arms in amazement that we had a 3rd boy. And while I enjoyed hanging out with my friends during these last three weeks, I honestly think the best part about being away was the fact that during one of those weeks, I slept with Keegan in my bed every night. Normally, he puts himself to sleep in his crib. But while we were in Phoenix, I laid down with him every night until he dozed off to sleep.

I don't know exactly how to explain the feelings that I got as I watched him fall asleep. He would inevitably fight it with all his strength until his eyes could no longer stay open. They would close and then re-open once he realized that they were closed....then they would close again for a longer lapse of time. Then followed the body twitches and his eyes would again re-open. Usually, the whole time he was falling asleep, he would say, "Mommy.......what doin?" And in time, that question would cease and he would slip off into his night's slumber.

I don't know...I think most parents who watch their children fall off to sleep know what I'm talking about. It's just a beautiful sight to see....not because you are exhausted or wanting them to get their much needed rest. There is just something about watching your child sleep that reaches inside of you and calls for your attention to their innocence and your responsibility as their parent. And I guess it's been a while since I've seen Keegan fall asleep like that. Now that he's two, I know that the opportunities to watch him doze off are getting fewer and fewer, which is why it really was the highlight of my time away. But that shouldn't be of any surprise. My boys are usually the highlight of my days whether I'm here at home or traveling across the country.

I am glad to be back home though. It feels good to sleep in my own bed once again.

Happenings

Since I don't want to let too much more time pass before I enter another post, here goes....

The boys (Jason & Dallas) and I will be boarding a flight tomorrow for Cincinnatti. We're meeting up with Robb & Marie to do a show. I have been promising them for about a year now that this summer, they could come to another one of the shows that they do. I'm not sure what other shows we will be able to make before the school year starts again, so this is really their only chance. Anyway, it should be a great way to spend 4th of July. It's a 3 day Christian Concert festival at Kings Island. We did this show last year and had a blast. It's always hard work, but a fun time. So that is how I will spend this year's 4th. Unfortunately, Kenny couldn't get the time off from work. So he'll stay back with Keegan and hang out here.

Baseball for Jason is finally over, at least until the Fall. They lost their last tournament game Saturday. It would be a stretch to say that it was a close game, but it really wasn't. Their team barely showed up to play. I think that they lost interest since the games were constantly being postponed due to rain. That combined with a lack of practice was just enough rust to put them on the losing end. So be it...I'm actually glad to have the rest of the summer free so that we can travel around for some much needed friend & family time. I just feel bad for the kids who really do love playing baseball. They very much wanted to win so that they could continue on in tournament play. I guess there is always next year.

Let's see...what else.....oh, I'm proud to say that I'm back in the gym and once again on my quest to lose the extra 25 pounds that I've been carrying around for about 3 years now. I've actually talked a friend and her husband into leaving their gym and joining the gym that Kenny and I go to so that I have a workout partner. It has seemed to help. Knowing that I am being held accountable for showing up does motivate me to get out of bed on time and get down there. Anyway, we've been at it for about 3 weeks now. Of course I haven't seen the scale move any. However, my body fat is down 1%. (I started at 33%, yes...33%.) So that's a good thing I suppose. And the fact that I can keep up for the most part makes me feel somewhat decent considering that I've got 9 years on my workout buddy. I actually appreciate the fact that she is in much better shape than I am. It gives me something to strive for. I don't like working out with people who don't push themselves at the gym...so it's a good thing that she's always a step ahead of me. I like the motivation to catch up to her and I imagine that with that attitude, eventually I will start to lose some weight and more body fat.

I guess that's about it. I think I'll check out for now and head off to watch one of my Netflix selections.