Yes. You read it correctly. We let Willow fall in a river.
Last weekend we made a trip up to Traverse City to visit with family.
We made all the usual stops. We took a walk on the State Hospital grounds (aka Grand Traverse Commons), an old, run down mental hospital, which is equally as beautiful as it is creepy, that is being transformed into cool shops and condos.
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We stopped by Oryana (the most amazing food coop and sanctuary for foodies and health nuts alike).
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Played and ate some treats.
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But the main reason we went up that weekend was to take a family photo as a gift to Jazz’s parents. We stopped by the old train station and took some cute shots and then headed over to a park along the Boardman River for some natural beauty.
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When we first arrived, all of the children went running to the river to check out the family of baby geese. The other parents firmly told their children to back away from the river, but not us. Willow had never seen a river before and besides, we were both right there to supervise her. I was taking lots of photos and Jazz was staying close by. When it was time to continue our photo session, Jazz took Willow’s hand and headed back toward the rest of the family. But Willow had other ideas and, as she most frequently does as a means to show her independence, pulled her hand from Jazz’s grip. She pulled with such force that it caused her to fall. She fell so hard in fact, that she rolled right into the Boardman River. Listen folks, this was no stream. It’s a deep and wide river and Willow had a full-submersion-baptism into its dark waters. Luckily, Jazz was able to grab her foot and just after she completely submerged into the water, was able to fish her out with one mighty lift.
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The moment just before the fall
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I went right into mama bear mode and started stripping the girl ferociously of her wet clothes. We wrapped her in coats and blankets and sweaters. As a result, half of the photos display a wadded up ball of wet blankets in place of Willow. We should have heeded the advice of the other, more experienced parents. Because although in hind sight it was quite hilarious, it could have been much worse. I will never forget the look she gave just before her head went under the water. I guess this is one of the stories that every parent has of how they kind of botched things up a little. Willow will never hear the end of it.
I am thankful for my husbands Spiderman-like reflexes and for the second chance to learn from our mistakes.
xoxo
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