Super Saturday

What a great day today was!! I don't even know where to start!

Through Facebook I have reconnected with a woman that I went to grade school with but we lost touch with one another due to life circumstances. We've messaged back and forth for about a year but haven't gotten together. I'll tell you more about her later.

Today we were messaging back and forth through Facebook and she told me about a carnival that was being held today at a local church. At the last minute I decided to go and see if we could meet up with each other there. Ian, having busted his butt all week, stayed home to enjoy a few hours of quiet time alone with his XBox.

As soon as we arrived the children saw all sorts of inflatable things that they wanted to try. This one looks like something from the show Wipeout that we all watch together on Tuesdays so Julie had to try it out.







Then she tried this reverse bungee thing where she had to pull against the restraint to see how far she could go to put down a marker.



Sam was all about the jousting!









Testing their strength...





And then a little snack...



I didn't know that there would be a mini water park so they didn't have their bathing suits. I wasn't about to be worried about wet clothes, so I told them to go and have fun. Everything is washable!

Sam tried the dunk tank first. I was really impressed that he'd do it and he admitted later that he only did it to make me laugh.







And finally the slip-n-slide...











There were so many other things that we didn't get a chance to see...pony rides, police cars, fire trucks, rock climbing, kid shows, obstacle courses...

Back to Marilyn...

She and I met in grade school, way back in the day. She told me today that she remembers when she transferred to my school and that I was the only kid that accepted her. I remembered liking her instantly. She also remembers us locking her sister in my garage and us trying out Bloody Mary in front of the bathroom mirror in my darkened bathroom with only a small candle. I don't remember those things because those years are a period of my life that I try not to remember.

She is absolutely beautiful. Inside and out. As soon as she saw me she came up to me and we both had tears as we hugged the life out of one another. There was no awkwardness between us and the years just fell away and we were just Katie and Marilyn again. We'd start talking about one thing and then switch to something else... lots of unfinished topics as we tried to cram 20+ years into such a short time. We were very proud to introduce our children and she cuddled with Jordan for a bit.

Here is the kicker... we have been living about 5 minutes apart for YEARS. We are not letting go of each other again, and we're both looking forward to getting together again to catch up. I hated having to say goodbye to her today, but I can feel it in my heart that she and I are going to be friends for a very long time.

God is so good.