A Few Fun Things

Since Riley and I have returned, we've all been trying to do some fun things together as a family. This trip was the longest that Eric and I have been apart since we started dating, and it was..... weird, to say the least. We've been working opposite shifts a lot of the time to cut down on the number of babysitters we need to get, but there is the occasional day (or at least morning) that we both have off.
This happened the other day-- Monday, I think-- and we decided to take Riley to Seven Peaks. It's not one of Eric's favorite places in the world, and as the morning dragged and we still hadn't left the house, I was starting to get miffed. Eric called it a true family outing-- a late start and an upset mom. Ha ha. But we really had a great time. Riley made it what it was; we stayed for 5 1/2 hours, and Eric and I certainly wouldn't have lasted that long on our own! We got a tube and did some of the tamer slides, the wave pool, the lazy river, and of course, the kiddie pool. One of the reasons we stayed as long as we did might have been that Riley kept wanting to go back to the kiddie area, where all Eric and I could do was sit. She did so well at waiting her turn in line for the slide until she realized that with all the line cutters, she was never getting a chance. So she became Head Line Cutter. I probably should have made more of an effort to stop that, but I couldn't really get mad at her for doing what everyone else was doing. I wasn't supposed to go on any of the water slides-- lame-- so I figured I'd just look all offended if a lifeguard told me that pregnant women aren't allowed. (To see me trying to act like I'm not pregnant would have been hilarious!) But no one ever challenged me-- nuts. A good time was had by all, and Riley didn't even pee in the pool-- that we know of. We had one of those disposable water cameras, so if I can ever figure out how to scan pictures, you might see some.

Then, a few days later, we spent the morning up in Cascade Springs. We've taken Riley there every summer since we were dating (this one makes it the third), so it's got the feel of a tradition. I've always loved it there, and it's so fun to go places as a family now that I went to with my family as a kid. Riley loves looking at "fishies" and we were lucky enough to see a deer this time, pretty close up. She was beautiful.

Eric and I were talking about how you change as you're a parent, and how what makes you happy changes. He used this deer as an example. He saw the deer directly ahead of us on the path, only a handful of feet away. He could have kept silent and given himself a rare opportunity of viewing this animal up so close. Instead, he wanted Riley to have the chance to see her, and he called out. Hearing Eric's voice startled the deer, and she booked it up a hill. She was still close enough that Riley could see her, luckily. By giving Riley a chance to enjoy the deer, Eric was cheating himself. It's just interesting how our idea of fun, a good time, and happiness changes when we have kids. Maybe Eric and I are starting to get a hold of that whole "selfless" thing that parents are supposed to be all about.