Accidents Happen

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Yesterday I took the boys on another "adventure." I'm trying to use our Tuesdays as "Adventure Days" because it is the one day each week I have both boys all morning and no plans. We went to Wilderness Park, which is a park within our city that looks like a campground. You can even camp there overnight. The funny thing is, as you are hiking through the park, you see houses bordering each edge and you can look right into their backyards and their windows, and you remember that you are not really in the wilderness after all. There are no deer or bears or coyotes; we were lucky enough to just see a skunk from a distance. After all, this is right in the middle of the city.

Last week I took Jaden to this park while Micah was in school, and Micah wanted to go so badly. He donned his khaki "adventure hat" and the boys took their bug keepers and found sticks right away to use as their walking sticks. We took a hike down to the large pond at the farthest edge of the park, where you can see and touch TONS of turtles and ducks, and there are many strange fish in the pond (that look like catfish).

I was standing next to the boys at the edge of the pond, when Jaden got too close to the edge and fell straight in. I immediately bent down and pulled him out, and he was screaming at the top of his lungs. A small preschool was there visiting, and all the kids and parents were right next to us when this happened. Poor Jaden was soaking wet and terrified, and I'm not sure if it was more from falling in and getting soaked, or feeling all the turtles and fish under him (I'm sure it was both, actually). I held him for about 15 minutes (while I was also getting wet from him), and a kind man with the preschool ran to his car and got me a towel. I stripped Jaden down to his underwear and wrapped him in the towel. After calming him down, I made the hike all the way uphill back to the car (about a 15-20 minute hike), with Micah following behind. WOW. What an adventure it was!! :)

Last night as I layed in bed, though, mommy-guilt washed over me and I couldn't help but tear up about it. I had a nightmare just the night before that Jaden drowned in the bathtub. I woke up really upset about the dream, and it came back to my mind last night as the scene of him falling in the pond flashed back. I knew it wasn't my fault, that I really was watching him and was standing right next to him. Yet that guilt was still hovering over me. For just a moment I thought about what it would feel like if something worse happened. I just wanted to run and hold him tightly. About 5 minutes later, we heard the pitter-patter of his feet running full speed down the hall, and he joined us in bed (around 1am). We were able to snuggle him closely and kiss his little head. I'm so glad he is okay.

Here are some pictures...

See the houses behind him?  :)

Okay, GROSS!!

This picture is from last week, but the exact spot where he fell in:

Very upset here in the car:

SO not happy right here.

And a warm bubble bath makes it all better!!