What I learned from a day at the waterpark...

We5Kings spent the day at Schlitterbahn Galveston this weekend and had the best time cruising the lazy rivers, navigating the white rapids and picking our bathing suit bottoms from our booties after every single slide. We picked Radley up from a week at Sea Camp that morning and headed straight for the park. Seven hours later and we had all the fun that we could take and as we headed back to College Station, I kind of reflected on our day and realized that I learned five valuable lessons that day.

Talking to strangers isn't always bad. 

It drives my kids crazy that I talk to strangers. The whole "danger" thing. They've finally figured out that adults can talk to strangers. We set our stuff down at the first shaded table we could find when we walked in the park - mostly because we had never been there and didn't know which area we wanted to hang out in. Cut to one ride around the lazy river and the discovery of a kid's area and we knew we wanted to move.

I had zero things to hold a table with while Ryan and Radley moved our things and the girls swam. So... I asked some strangers if we could borrow a couple of their bags to hold a table and we are now best friends. The end.

When people are rude... just be nice. 

There was an area of the park that was built for younger kids. Emmy and Landry had the best time going down the same three slides. Up and down... up and down... up and down. At one point Emmy and I made our way up the stairs to wait in the short line and a little girl popped right in front of Emmy.

Emmy looked up at me with that, "Mom... she TOTALLY just cut" look in her eyes. I gently held her back and reassured her that she'd get her turn soon enough.

And then the mom of the little girl appeared. With two more kids. That she promptly plopped in front of Emersyn.

And I didn't want to be nice. I really didn't. Because, well... that's just rude. But I kept my hands rested on Emmy's shoulder and offered some grace. Even if the person didn't deserve it, because the same is offered to me every single day.

Food out of a cooler just tastes better. 

Maybe it's the sun. Maybe it's because we were starving. Or dying of thirst. But isn't "cooler" food just the best?

Being brave can help you discover new things. 

Emmy and Landry had decided before we walked in that they were only riding "small and medium" slides. We convinced them to try a bigger slide "just once" and through some fake tears and drama they walked up those 1035 flights of stairs to the top, got in their tubes, and declared it THE BEST DAY EVER!

We had to ride that thing four times in a row before we finally called it quits. I took the opportunity to remind them that being brave is one of the best gifts we can give to ourselves. Otherwise, we may miss out on a million different discoveries of things we love.

I want as much confidence as a granny in a bikini. 

It's a well-known fact that we are not all created the same. God made us different and equally beautiful. And fashion people designed bathing suits for all shapes and purposes. And waterpark inventors created crazy rides so that people wearing strange bathing suits could give us all a giggle when they are walking out a ride pulling at all the parts.

Me included.

But y'all. Just one day of my life I want as much confidence as a granny in a bikini. Because oh my word. They owned the day.