We were supposed to meet friends at a class Tuesday @ 11. Everyone was in the car ready to go except Charis. The back seat of the van was pushed down and she couldn't get it up. I tried to help her, but after pulling and pushing every leaver I could find, I decided to call my friend and tell her we wouldn't make the class. But my cell phone said the SIM card wasn't in it. But it was in. So I couldn't call her or Caleb (to help me with both problems). Then as I was trying to get the seat up again Paxton said, "Mom there are 2 men walking up." I turned around to meet an attorney working for my neighbors. He wanted to get the low-down on someone up the street. The bottom line is it freaked me out, and the lack of cell phone use and seat problem didn't help. So I emailed Caleb and asked him to call our home phone ASAP. For some reason he didn't find my situation quite as distressing as I did. But he did help me fix the SIM card problem and told me how to get the seat up (oh, that lever).
Since we missed the class we decided to go on an adventure. You see, I used to be fairly adventurous. In fact, I love wandering around finding new and undisturbed places. But having 3 kids has really put a halt on this hobby, and I have mourned the fact before. But the old Kate is back (that's what I told Caleb).
Since it was lunch time, we did something Pax had been asking for for a while (that I really haven't wanted to do). We got hot dogs at Circle K. It only took forever to pick them out, get ketchup on them, etc. Once we got to the cash register, the lady said someone who had been in there earlier wanted to pay for our hot dogs. He thought we were cute and left money for us! How awesome is that?! So I saved $4. It was a really cool thing, and my kids are still talking about it.
After our healthy lunch, we drove over to Rainbow, the next town up from us. Just the name makes me happy and the old weird signs bring even more joy. Rainbow did not disappoint. It is a tiny town full of nurseries and dirt roads. We had already driven around the nurseries earlier, and this time stopped at the town store. We got water and sat at some picnic tables to drink. It was such a beautiful day and I felt so happy to be there, so I decided we should make up a best friend secret hand shake. My kids were so into that. It was cute.
Then we explored the amazing antique store there. It really was one of the coolest antique stores I'd ever seen. There were treasures everywhere. It is entirely outdoors with this labyrinth lay out. After spending a long time looking around, we decided to walk down to the creek.
We threw acorns in the water for a while, and Charis climbed this tree that hung over the water (until I got too freaked out). Then we found a spot where we could get closer, and as I was trying to help Jo down there I heard Charis yelp. Then she started running down stream. I realized she has lost one of her (new) pink Crocs down the creek. It was steadily moving further and further away from us. She was so cute trying to stick branches in the water to reach it. I couldn't really help her because I was holding Jonas. She starting crying. It was really picking up speed, and if you looked way down stream you could see the creek went under the road and into ??? (maybe the sewer). We tried running ahead, but it was so far off now that is seemed hopeless. But it finally got stuck in a tree root on the far side of the creek. In an attempt to calm Charis down, I said we could drive up the road a bit and see if there was way to get down to that side of the creek. If she hadn't been so upset I would have been cracking up at the hilarity of the situation.
Now imagine overgrown, wild creek trees and brush and mush. That is what I bush wacked through to get the beloved pink Croc. After traipsing my kids across the road (Charis dramatically hopping on one foot the entire way), we climbed over a small barrier and walked through some crap. I set them on a rock and put Jo in C's lap (which was the scariest part of the day). I climbed down the boggy slope to the edge of the creek. The shoe was just out of reach, and none of the nearby branches were sturdy enough. So I submerged one of my tennis shoes into the water and saved the Croc! I held it up announcing it's survival and my kids cheered. It was such a hilarious and surreal day. And I got to be the hero.
The end (did anyone actually read all of this?)
Last Sunday was a really special day for us. In church Charis asked if she could take communion. She has asked this before, and we always explained that its for a person who believes Jesus and has given Him their life, and its a big decision. We didn't want her doing it just to have a snack, or because we do it. But she has repeatedly asked so many good questions about what Caleb and I believe, and about life, death, and God. She has claimed to love and follow Jesus for some time now. But again, we assumed this is because she hears us talking about what we believe. 
