hawaiian falls

One morning the kids and I decided to head to Hawaiian Falls.  I texted my friend Kelly to see if her and her boys were free to join us, but she thought it was too cold for the water park.  I sort of laughed at her because it was 85 degrees outside, but it had been raining that week which does tend to make the pool water a bit chilly. But we were all still excited about it, so just went on our own.  I am actually SO glad we did because the park was literally empty (I guess people feared rain) and Brooke and Colby played SO well together.  

We started out in the kiddie area and the water was pretty chilly, but our bodies adjusted quickly.  They did the ropes course a million times, which was a novelty since normally the line moves so slowly. Brooke is completely independent now, and has branched out with different methods of maneuvering the course. Colby still needs some help, but he is getting braver and more adventuresome as well.

Then it was all about the mat slide!  I hadn't really thought about it before heading to Hawaiian Falls, but I didn't feel comfortable riding the slides since I was possibly (and hopefully) pregnant.  All the signs advise against pregnant women riding, and although it would have been super early in a pregnancy, I still wanted to be cautious.  I told the kids that my tummy was upset, which was why I wasn't going to ride.  Brooke, being an amazing big sister, offered to carry her AND Colby's mat to the top, but Colby was nervous and wanted me to go with him.  So, I carried his mat to the top, helped push them off, then headed back down the staircase to meet them at the bottom and help Colby pull his mat off.  I did that probably 15 times, so I was feeling like an all-star mom, haha. Colby finally let Brooke carry his mat at the end of the afternoon, which she was pretty happy about.  

The only bonus of me NOT riding the slides was that I could take my phone with me and take cute pictures of my kiddos.  I am way more cautious that I used to be after ruining my phone at Hawaiian Falls last year :(

They did these slides forever as well, and since I wasn't riding, I just waited at the bottom for them.  After each ride, Brooke would grab Colby's hand and run back to the slides, or put her arm around him as they walked.  It really was the sweetest thing and made my heart so happy that they were having this bonding time together. It sounds weird to write this, but I feel like my love for them grew as I watched them showing such kindness to each other and making memories just the two of them.

Since the day was going so great, we ended up staying for 6 hours!  That might be a record for us.  Our snack stash was depleting, so I decided to get the kids some cotton candy to celebrate a great day ;)

As you can tell, it was a big hit!  I absolutely loved this time with my kids, and it was a good reminder to me that we don't always need to meet friends when we go places.  They have each other, which is a friendship that I hope will last forever!