A Rough Trip to the Park

Our family visited a new park tonight. We had planned to meet friends there this morning, but when that fell through, I promised the girls we would make it to the park . . . right after lunch . . . right after Mommy got some housework done . . . right after Curtis’s nap . . . right after I ran a few errands right after Curtis’s nap . . . right after dinner. It was one of those days.

The park was quite lovely, and the kids really enjoyed themselves. It was only rough on us parents. First, we sat down to watch the girls run through the splash pad—a lifesaver at the end of this hot, hot day! I got Curtis into his little swim trunks and asked Grant to take a picture of us in the golden sunlight with my camera. My camera was out of batteries, and neither of us wanted to go back to the car to get the spare. Grant whipped out his phone, but of course, Curtis wouldn’t smile for him the way he had when Grant had been trying to get a picture with my camera. The moment was past. Curtis wanted to go play.

I took Curtis over to the water so he could cool off. Meanwhile, Grant decided to lean back and get comfortable while he watched his family play. Just as he reached his hands back to support himself, he got stung by a bee (or a hornet—who knows) on his thumb.

The girls were having a blast. They noticed that many of the kids there were filling plastic cups so they could toss water at each other, and they quickly went to the right person and mooched some cups of their own.

Curtis loved getting into the water with some caution. He held my fingers and got his feet wet. Sometimes he would venture a little closer until one of the streams of water was hitting his tummy, but he would soon backtrack. What really fascinated him was when he noticed where the kids were pushing the button to control the water. He finger-walked me over there and spent some time batting at it, hanging on it, and monopolizing it the best he could.

I was happy and completely oblivious to the fact that Grant was in pain; he didn’t let me know when it happened. Then, Curtis and I wandered back over to the water. Phaedra danced her way over to us. I was bending over to hold Curtis’s hands. Phaedra was right by him. The excitement was too much for her happy 3-year-old body to contain, and she did a jump—practically a flying leap—and the top of her head made contact –WHAM!- with the bridge of my nose. She might have whimpered a bit, but honestly I have no idea. I grabbed Curtis and took him straight to Grant so I could be baby-free as the tears came to my eyes.

That’s when Grant told me about the bee sting.

What a sorry lot we were.

Grant got more pictures and possibly even video, but now his phone battery is dead. The two above photos are all we’re going to get for tonight, and after a night like tonight, I think it’s just going to have to be good enough.

Our wounds don’t look nearly as impressive as they are painful, so there’s no need for pictures of them at this point. If you’re wondering if we’ll ever go to that park again, I’d have to say, ask me when my nose stops hurting.

--ouch--