Something Special
My two oldest nephews spent the night with us the other night. I woke up and said to Mama "Do you want to do something with the boys today?" She said, "Yeah, but let's wait till it stops raining."
Our first idea was to take them to a flea market Mama and I had visited that had some old metal trucks we knew the boys would love.
After checking the weather, it showed rain all in that area. Wheelchairs and wet gravel don't mix. So, plans changed.
Mama remembered one of her clients telling her about taking kids to Greenville to jump for $8 each, but she couldn't remember the name.
The client never answered her phone or texts, so I Googled it to see what came up. Finding a few places that were a little more than we wanted to spend, I suggested a nearby mall. I thought they had a place for kids to jump and Mama thought they had an arcade.
Off we went!
When we got to the mall, we saw one big jumping thing straps you in, but my middle nephew said, "I don't like that!"
The place that Mama thought was an arcade is now a barber shop. Such a bummer!
We let both boys ride a small ride inside the mall, but I told Mama, "This is not what I had in mind."
What do you want to do, Madison?
I don't know, but this is not special! (Since it was the end of their Spring Break, I wanted to do something special with them.)
We finally found out the name of the jumping place in Greenville, but we thought it might be a little too far to travel with my middle nephew, Bryson, since he is younger.
Mama said, "What about that place you found earlier?"
"That will be good if I can get the address to pull up."
On the way to the mall, I found the KidVenture Playground. It had a castle, ropes, swinging bridges...it looked like something the boys would love AND we wouldn't have to drive far!
The phone nor the GPS would pull up the address. I found a different address and tried that. Still nothing.
"I don't know. I can't find it."
"Well, most places have a phone number," Mama said. She called and left a message.
"They may not be there."
"They are open 24 hours a day. I looked it up," I said, my agitation ever-increasing.
Mama said, "You need to calm down."
Mama was looking too. She said, "We may need to go to Gravatopia since I can't find this place."
In the midst of my frustration, she said, "I probably need to get the boys something to eat.
I said, "Yeah, while you're there ask somebody about the playground. They'll know. It's a huge place."
Just like a kid, Mason said, "Let's look for a huge place!"
Sure enough, Mama asked a lady leaving Chic-Fil-A if she was familiar with KidVenture.
She said, "Yeah, it's on this road. Go down here and turn."
I smiled.
It was taking a little longer than normal to get the food due to the number of people, and I thought maybe I need to be away from the boys so I can regroup.
By the time they came back I was good.
Turns out the directions on the phone were right. The road was a parkway instead of a circle. No wonder the GPS couldn't find it!
"Here it is! I see it!" Mama said.
I saw it too. It was huge. We even saw ducks walk right beside us. Black and white ones and some with a red beak. We told the boys we would take our food and have a picnic. Mason drank some of his milk shake, but Bryson was off in a flash, racing up the castles. As Mama was getting the food out, she said, "Where's Bryson?"
He said, "Up here!"
Mason ran to play with him. Mama had to check it out to, so I watched them play while I ate.
They climbed the rock wall, swung from metal rings, and making as much noise as possible.
They had so many slides!
Then, we went down to the lake and got to see two tiny baby ducks waddling behind their mama. Mason said those were his favorite. The ducks even ate out of Mama's hand.
I realized we DID have a special day. It didn't have to be some elaborate trip with lots of things to do. The boys just liked being there with us. They didn't really care what we were doing as long as we were together.
I am writing this as a reminder to myself to slow down and enjoy the moments. Stop fussing over every detail. It doesn't have to be perfect. Kids just want quality time with you - away from the phones and distractions.
We didn't spend a lot of money, but we made priceless memories.
Our first idea was to take them to a flea market Mama and I had visited that had some old metal trucks we knew the boys would love.
After checking the weather, it showed rain all in that area. Wheelchairs and wet gravel don't mix. So, plans changed.
Mama remembered one of her clients telling her about taking kids to Greenville to jump for $8 each, but she couldn't remember the name.
The client never answered her phone or texts, so I Googled it to see what came up. Finding a few places that were a little more than we wanted to spend, I suggested a nearby mall. I thought they had a place for kids to jump and Mama thought they had an arcade.
Off we went!
When we got to the mall, we saw one big jumping thing straps you in, but my middle nephew said, "I don't like that!"
The place that Mama thought was an arcade is now a barber shop. Such a bummer!
We let both boys ride a small ride inside the mall, but I told Mama, "This is not what I had in mind."
What do you want to do, Madison?
I don't know, but this is not special! (Since it was the end of their Spring Break, I wanted to do something special with them.)
We finally found out the name of the jumping place in Greenville, but we thought it might be a little too far to travel with my middle nephew, Bryson, since he is younger.
Mama said, "What about that place you found earlier?"
"That will be good if I can get the address to pull up."
On the way to the mall, I found the KidVenture Playground. It had a castle, ropes, swinging bridges...it looked like something the boys would love AND we wouldn't have to drive far!
The phone nor the GPS would pull up the address. I found a different address and tried that. Still nothing.
"I don't know. I can't find it."
"Well, most places have a phone number," Mama said. She called and left a message.
"They may not be there."
"They are open 24 hours a day. I looked it up," I said, my agitation ever-increasing.
Mama said, "You need to calm down."
Mama was looking too. She said, "We may need to go to Gravatopia since I can't find this place."
In the midst of my frustration, she said, "I probably need to get the boys something to eat.
I said, "Yeah, while you're there ask somebody about the playground. They'll know. It's a huge place."
Just like a kid, Mason said, "Let's look for a huge place!"
Sure enough, Mama asked a lady leaving Chic-Fil-A if she was familiar with KidVenture.
She said, "Yeah, it's on this road. Go down here and turn."
I smiled.
It was taking a little longer than normal to get the food due to the number of people, and I thought maybe I need to be away from the boys so I can regroup.
By the time they came back I was good.
Turns out the directions on the phone were right. The road was a parkway instead of a circle. No wonder the GPS couldn't find it!
"Here it is! I see it!" Mama said.
I saw it too. It was huge. We even saw ducks walk right beside us. Black and white ones and some with a red beak. We told the boys we would take our food and have a picnic. Mason drank some of his milk shake, but Bryson was off in a flash, racing up the castles. As Mama was getting the food out, she said, "Where's Bryson?"
He said, "Up here!"
Mason ran to play with him. Mama had to check it out to, so I watched them play while I ate.
They climbed the rock wall, swung from metal rings, and making as much noise as possible.
They had so many slides!
Then, we went down to the lake and got to see two tiny baby ducks waddling behind their mama. Mason said those were his favorite. The ducks even ate out of Mama's hand.
I realized we DID have a special day. It didn't have to be some elaborate trip with lots of things to do. The boys just liked being there with us. They didn't really care what we were doing as long as we were together.
I am writing this as a reminder to myself to slow down and enjoy the moments. Stop fussing over every detail. It doesn't have to be perfect. Kids just want quality time with you - away from the phones and distractions.
We didn't spend a lot of money, but we made priceless memories.
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