A first and, I hope, the last.

MK has started "two-a-days" for band. So, the Big Man, T. Willy and I went to our local water park without her today.

We had a really fun time. T. Willy is so brave, and that makes it a lot of fun. He and I decided to try one ride, and the Big Man chose to stay behind in the lazy river. T. did great, and we were having a ball, but sometimes we would get separated because one of us would get caught in a current while the other moved along. This happened a couple of times, and we always caught up with each other.

Then...

I had gotten to the bottom of the ride first and ended up on my way to the lazy river. No worries. I let other people pass me while I waited for him. Then a loud clap of thunder and the signal to get out of the water. (We've been 3 times this summer, and it's happened every time.) This wouldn't have been a problem, but I wasn't in view of T. I told the lifeguard (who was insisting that I get out of the water) that I just wanted to wait till my son caught up with me. But he was insistent. So I had to walk where the wall was low enough for me to climb out, but the whole time telling this lifeguard that I needed to find my son. Then I saw T. Willy walking down a path, so I was relieved that he was out of the water, but his path and mine were quite far, and he couldn't hear or see me. I prayed, "Lord, help me find him," and went to look.

I hurried to try to meet his path, but he was gone. I couldn't see him anywhere. Everyone was out of the water, so it was very crowded. A central area is the food court, and the Big Man found me there. I had to say words I've never said before, "I can't find T." The lifeguards started signaling their lost child call, and it was pretty chaotic because it was raining and people were everywhere - except for my sweet boy.

The lifeguards called for their supervisor, but I thought to head to the lockers, because it was an area he knew. And there was my sweet boy. He was as calm as he could be. I hadn't gotten to the point that I thought I wasn't going to see him again, but he is a very dear and sensitive little guy. I was just worried that he'd be upset, but to my great relief, he was just fine. His first words after I hugged him tight were, "Well, at least you know I can survive." And that prayer works!

Enough excitement for one day. It stormed and stormed, so we went to lunch and then came home.

Here's a picture of T. on Saturday when we were shopping. He was a good sport.