Live, Love, and Learn: Dancing in the Rain

Friday, August 29, 2008

Dancing in the Rain

Well, I never thought when I put that quote about Dancing in the Rain on the top of my blog how it would literally play out right in front of me at Ryan's birthday party. Today was his big day, and we looked forward to meeting lots of our friends at the pool for one last summer splash and to celebrate the birthday boy's big event. The problem was, it's 65 degrees and raining. Oh yes, a great day for the pool! We checked the weather report constantly the last few days... only a 30% chance... a few scattered showers... no problem, I'm sure we'll be fine! Rescheduling? Not an option, the pools are closing this weekend. Move the party to the house?? I don't want 19 muddy-footed children running around here thank you very much! So this morning when it was constant drizzle and thick heavy cloud cover, we tried to prepare Ryan for a lot of cancellations and no-shows. He was sure it would be fine. The rain will stop, don't worry! Good grief is he optomistic!

We pulled up, shocking all the lifeguards who were sitting around the office in their sweats. Stepping out of the car I saw a little friend standing there in his trunks holding an umbrella I wondered how big of a disaster I was in for. But he and Ryan stormed into the pool splashing, screaming and grinning ear to ear. And as we unloaded the van, more and more and more friends showed up. You really find out who your friends are when you have a pool party in the rain and people still come!!

Purple-lipped and shivering, the kids never had so much fun! Tim earned major dad of the year points staying in the water the whole time tossing the kids around and playing games. The kids ran back and forth from the pool to a hot steaming shower in the locker room. At one point there were about 6 kids crammed into a shower stall together warming up. All the moms stuck together under the overhang in the "dry section." We had so much to talk about because we had just come from Kindergarten Open House and met our new teachers.

So today, we really did learn to dance in the rain! My sense of optimism has been renewed, my appreciation and faith in good friends has deepened, and my baby boy is 6 years old.

Our Olympic Diving Event

Ryan's President Cake

Warming up in a hot steamy shower!

1 comment:

Erika said...: Looks like fun to me Nicole!!; September 1, 2008 at 7:22 PM

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What did you say!?!?

There is no filter in a child's mind- they say whatever they're thinking without a care if it's socially appropriate... sometimes I'm left wishing I could dig a hole and hide, other times my heart is melting from the sweetness of their thoughts. Here are some of their classic moments:

Katie one day decided she wanted to start taking showers instead of baths. She explained to us that "The bad thing about baths is that you dip your head where your bottom just was!"

embarrassing moment #382
"I know why your bottom is so big, it's because you ate too much ice cream"

I can't believe you were born when it was still 19o0 something. That was like a hundred years ago!
At church one Sunday, Claire was playing around the baptismal fountain. We rushed over to grab her before she fell in. Ryan scolded her saying,"If you fall in there you would be blessed, and then you would drown."

We were talking about how when I was little there weren't any car seats. Katie asked, "Is that because you rode in a horse and wagon?"

Claire just kissed me, I'm not going to wipe off all her slobber yet- I'm going to wait until the love is absorbed first, then I'll wipe it off.

On the difference between boys and girls... "Boys have a penis, but girls get to paint their nails."

They used to totally flip out when the rain washed away their chalk drawings and hopscotch, now they recognize it as "God's eraser."

I offered a slice of my spinach/feta pizza to Ryan who apologetically declined, "No Mommy, I don't want to throw up today."

We were discussing how Christmas is a birthday celebration for baby Jesus and asked the kids what they thought Jesus would like for a birthday present. Ryan responded, "Probably nothing since he's dead."

Katie recently complained to me that she's "not having much luck getting people to pay her before coming into her room" I asked how much it costs to enter, and she informed me, "My fee is $20."

After taking Ryan to school on the first day of Kindergarten, Katie broke down sobbing, "Now I have no one to play with except a baby! And she's going to bite my nose!"

In a movie we were watching, a man was singing and Ryan asked if it was David Cook. I told him it wasn't and he said, "Too bad, that would be a treat for the ladies!"

I am the only brunette in a golden blonde world, and once when he was little Ryan suggested that I go to the doctor so he could fix my hair.

Ryan on Kindergarten friendship, "I told that kid he was pretty cool, and he told me I'm awesome, and then we were friends." I hope it's always that easy to make friends.

Embarrassing moment #462
I was talking to a friend about her upcoming wedding and Katie interrupted- "Uh, aren't you already married?? You should be since you have a baby."

Ryan on T-ball vs Soccer... "I'd like to sign up for T-ball again, as long as they don't make me play in the outfield... that was boring!"
Why do we need to bring my birth certificate? Isn't my proof that I was born that I'm standing right here? --Ryan, not quite understanding the complexity of traveling across the Canadian border.

Katie wants to know why there's a reindeer named Nixon, but none of the other presidents had a reindeer named after them...

We were practicing all the body parts with Claire, she's learning to identify eyes, hair, belly button, etc. and Tim asked her to find Daddy's eyes. She leaned over and practically gouged out his eyes and said, "Ass." Her pronunciation is a bit off, but she's getting the basics!

Hark the Herald Angels Sing~ go ahead and sing it, I'll wait for you... Does it end the way Ryan's version does with a grand chorus of "Glory to the New York King!!!!"

I was taking Katie to the bathroom late one night around Christmas and she was mumbling something in her sleep. I asked her if she was excited for Santa to come and she answered, "He has to please his customers."

One day I thought Ryan had had a serious growth spurt. His pants were like 4 or 5 inches too short. Finally at the end of the day I asked him about them and it turns out they were Katie's pants. He said, "Yeah, I thought it was weird that they had a butterfly on the button."

Why doesn't Arkansas rhyme with Kansas? They have almost all the same letters! Ryan, who did just fine on his PALS testing at school, is learning how complex the English language is!

Ryan was sooooo disappointed to have school on St. Patrick's Day. "How can we have school today? Don't they know it's a holiday!"

How do blind people wake up in the morning if they can't open their eyes?

Mommy: "Ryan, get back over here, you haven't even touched any of your vegetables!" Ryan: "How many times do I need to touch them?"

Mommy, why is there a net inside my swim trunks? Is it in case I want to go fishing?

I have 2 questions Mommy... Why didn't you sign me up for ESL? And, What is ESL?

We were reading a story about Leonardo Da Vinci and Ryan stopped me after a few minutes. "Wait a minute mommy, his middle name is 'duh'?!"

I hope Granny makes it to 100! She's SOOOO close!!