White Water Adventure

Yesterday the boys and I went to White Water with Valery and her family. Places like that are never very much fun for me because of my 2 year old color code yellow son. He is so much fun, but he is also sooooooo crazy! He is such a daredevil and into everything. I was having to watch him very closely at the Rain Tree because he kept trying to go up the big slides instead of down. The lifeguards kept rescuing him. So we moved to the little kid area via the lazy river where I thought he would be safer. Again, he went straight to the bottom of the slides and tried to climb up. There are parts of the kiddie area that are about 12 inches deep. He kept putting his face under the water and trying to swim. Since i know him I knew he was fine, but the life guards kept trying to rescue him again thinking he was drowning. There were several times that I couldn't locate him for a few seconds and panicked. I got tired, so I decided to head back to our chairs. Val and TJ decided to take the 3 bigger kids to do some of the big rides. I had Addy and Sam and we were getting hungry, so we went to the snack bar to get some lunch. While we were in line Val showed up with Ari. Then TJ showed up with Nate and Eli. I kind of motioned Sam and Addy over to Val so I could finish ordering. My first mistake was to assume Val had the kids. It was totally my fault. I got complacent. I was ordering when Addy came up to me and said, "Auntie Em, where's Sammy?". I looked up expecting to be able to point him out to her immediately only to see that he was no where to be found. I looked at Val and said, "Where's Sam?". She looked around and couldn't find him either. Immediately I grabbed the older 4 and made them stand against the wall and Val and TJ went in opposite directions looking for him and calling his name. I started shaking and praying. We were right by the wave pool and the lazy river. I knew Sam had a life jacket on, but I also knew it hadn't done very well with it when we were in the lazy river before. I saw a lifeguard walking by and grabbed her and told her my 2 year old son was missing and I needed her to let the other lifeguards in the park know. She started trying to get that announcement made. Later Val said she had seen a little boy that looked like Sam in the lazy river but then saw an older boy with him so assumed it wasn't him. She said something told her to check the lazy river again. When she looked again the little boy was telling the lifeguard that someone lost their baby. I heard her yell "Emily!" and when I looked she was running in the water down the lazy river. I thought she was just going around seeing if she could see him because I couldn't see him or the boy talking to the lifeguard. I guess she hollered at the lifeguard that the baby was hers. I'm still standing by the snack bar with the other kids, and the lifeguard is still trying to get the announcement made when Val comes walking up with Sam in her arms. I can't even tell you the relief that came over me. I have never been so scared in my life. I felt totally helpless. Thankfully God was watching over Sam yesterday. Thankfully that little boy was in the lazy river and nice enough to help Sam. Thankfully my wonderful sister can run well in water. Thank you so much Val! It's a good lesson never to assume someone else is watching the kids. Thank the Lord yesterday turned out to be a fun, memorable day instead of a tragic one.

I was relieved later in the day when Sam started to get tired and slowed down. This is how Sam spent the last hour of our day at White Water.


That was the most relaxing hour of the day!!!