My cousin Laina lives in Phoenix. She and I were both pregnant for the first time, at the same time, which was a wonderful thing. We were able to whine about all of the bodily changes and pregnancy discomforts via email and it really helped to be able to talk to someone going through the exact same thing.

 

My due date was two months ahead of hers, almost to the day. We each went into labor on our due date and gave birth the day after our due date. What can we say? Elise and Miles are punctual kids. (Their names are also only one letter away from having all of the same letters. I just noticed that. Cool!)

 

This vacation marked the first time our children would meet each other and I was so excited about it.

Laina told my mom to let me know that Elise doesn’t like boys very much, so don’t take it personally if she didn’t like Miles immediately. I coached Miles in preparation for this by teaching him to say, “You’re pretty,” upon meeting Elise. I hoped this would warm her up to him. What girl doesn’t like to hear that, right?

We were at the zoo when they first met. I prompted him and he told her she was pretty. They got along great after a few minutes of getting used to each other. It was kind of amazing to me how quickly they seemed like pals and absolutely adorable watching them together.

Laina and I took the two of them over to look at some zoo animals while we waited to ride the train. Elise, whom I think is a little doll, reached out for Miles and they actually held hands for a minute. Laina and I squealed, and I got a few pictures of the extreme cuteness:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you stand it?

 

At the zoo, Miles rode his first big boy ride. It was a log ride, the kind that channels you around in a carved-out log boat that floats on water, culminating in a suspense-filled climb up a giant hill with a stomach-turning drop at the end.

Miles spotted the ride, and being the innocent creature that he is, didn’t even consider the tremendous drop involved. He begged and pleaded to go on it. “Please, Mommy? I want to go on the ride! Please?”

I refrained from telling him it was scary because I don’t want to pass my own fears on to him. I am not the roller coaster type. I try to pass it off as a strong case of survival instinct, but if I’m being honest with you, I’ll admit that I’m just a tremendous chicken. And laugh if you want, but I have a child now, so I have enough stress in my life to prematurely gray my hair without adding “sheer terror two hundred feet in the air” to the list.

Luckily for Miles, Grandpa is not a roller coaster ride chicken and volunteered to take him on it. What a good sport! You had to be 36 inches to ride this ride and Miles is 39, so they hopped into a log. Here’s a picture of them heading into the wet unknown:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Immediately after they took off, I was struck by a raging case of the What Have I Dones? That was my baby I just sent tumbling down a waterfall, after all. I raced over to the bottom of the drop at the end of the ride to capture the moment, and I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that my hands were shaking so hard with fear for my child that I had trouble working the camera.

My dad said that when they got to the top of the big hill at the end, Miles wanted off the stupid log, like RIGHT NOW. It suddenly occurred to him that it was about to get scary. Toddlers don’t keep many thoughts to themselves, so I’d imagine the dialogue was pretty much like the one in my head that keeps me off of such rides. Poor kid. He really had no idea what he was in for.

Which makes it that much funnier. And heart-breaking. All at the same time. I was a swirling vortex of relief, dark humor, and sympathy as they got to the bottom of the ride and I saw my son’s unhappy little face:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awwww. Look at that little lip sticking out.

 

The good news is that he was upset for about thirty seconds after he got off the ride and over it completely before we even made it to the aquarium to look at all of the cool ocean creatures.

We had a great time at the zoo and followed it with a pizza and pool party at my parents’ house.

At the pizza by the pool party, Elise and Miles swam, played and had a good time. Their pool antics together will be featured in my next blog. Get excited!