For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a fear of heights. I remember climbing along rooftops with my father as he was building houses when I was really young, but since about 4 or 5 years old, heights and I do not get along. As a kid, we went to carnivals when they came to town and have been on roller coasters at Disneyland and never had a problem as long as we didn’t go on anything that went upside down. Upon having minions, however, I get the gooey-tummy syndrome whenever they get up on something too high. In our house, the kiddos love to climb on some crazy playground structure, find me, then holler, “Hey mom! Is your tummy gooey when I do this?!” Meanwhile they are balancing on one leg, faking they are falling, or otherwise tempting fate and trying to plummet to their demise! My shudder and having to look away makes everyone just roll with laughter.
Before the tummy gooey fun, we had a preschool field trip to the sea lab at Fort Casey:
“Pirate” Keith showing the kids the random sea creatures….this was a sea cucumber that “spits out of it’s bum”. When he described this, the kids roared with laughter. Gotta love anything toilet humor related.Hannah touches a sea star. She was a little more hesitant the bigger the creatures got!I can’t remember what this thing was called, but the longer he held it, the 50+ legs kept clinging tighter and tighter to his hand! Yikes!The sea urchin wasn’t quite as pokey as she thought it would be!Jake was not touching ANY of it! Ha! I don’t blame him! This particular creature was a spiny crab…and let’s face it, crabs are just spiders of the sea. Just say no to spiders; sea or otherwise!
After the preschool adventure, the kids decide they want to return to the beach and do some more exploring. So after a quick lunch at home – we head back to Ft. Casey!
By the big gun. Hannah kept wondering if it was going to shoot bullets.Running all over the fortHere’s where the gooey tummy starts….It’s about an 8 foot drop. To my stomach, it might as well have been a 50 ft. drop! I must have said, “Back up from the ledge” in a strained voice about 100 times!Ooh look Mom! A place where I can plummet to my death! Shall I jump?Follow Jake the leader. He’s never been here before, but he’s showing us the ropes!This place is just cool. Had to take some randomsPlease mom! Let me fall down and break my face!OOH! Let’s explore these dark and cavernous spaces! I bet they have spiders to creep mom out! Yay!
Is it just me or is it a mom thing? All I can picture is him falling off the side of those dang stairs?!I really don’t need to ever buy these kids toys. They were so content for HOURS out here just climbing and exploring.King of the world!Squeamy tummy continues….at least this time she’s holding a hand rail!Yeah, you can get down now. Really. Now.
I don’t want to pass my fears on to my kiddos. I don’t tell them what I’m really thinking and feeling (My hands get clammy, I start to sweat, feel the need to pee, all combined with a deep gut-churning nausea.) What I do say is, “Watch your step!” “Ooh, that is cool!” and “Where to next?!” praying that they are ready to climb down.
Eventually we made our way to the beach. Ahhh, sea level. That’s my kind of “height”!
The BEACH!
I’m sure it’s true for many people, but it’s astonishing to me the effect the ocean has on my kids. The minute we get near the ocean, they just get calm. They mellow. They don’t fight. We all just relax….Checking out the seagulls….taking it all in.Drawing in the sand.There’s always room for everyone at the beach!This was one of my favorite pictures of the day. She’s mellow, exploring, and completely enamored by the rocks and waves.Back up the hill to the lighthouse!
The lighthouse….here’s where my worst fears come alive!
There it is! But we must climb rocks first!Every. Single. Rock.The lighthouse! Oooh! Stairs. I bet these will make her tummy flip flop!The last portion is more of a ladder and less of a staircase. Wearing flip-flops, she fell right after I snapped this shot. I dropped everything and caught her. I thought I was going to die.
(While reviewing all these pictures, they just don’t do the reality justice. Not only did the ocean seem more vibrant, the sky bluer, the water sparkled, etc. than the photos show, the heights were definitely higher.)
Basically I think that when we give birth, they must install some kind of protective-freak-out-device that OVER-reacts when any possibility of danger arises. Even the slightest chance that someone may stub a toe and a little warning bell goes off. Ladders in lighthouses make me feel like a national emergency alert system is going off in my body!
Despite the heights and my physical reactions of their impending doom, the day was simply magnificent. The weather was perfect, they were great, and we were all up for an adventure. I consider myself lucky that as antsy as the hubs and I are, these two crazies love exploring the world with us!
Lori's Life and Other Stuff 
