The South Carolina bunch was going to be leaving on Tuesday after Mother's Day, and I have wanted to get a professional photo of the four grandkids ever since we made a disastrous attempt at doing it ourselves last Christmas!
Now you may laugh about this but only after you truly give thanks to the Lord that we didn't have a very serious or tragic event happen that day.
I got a brainstorm that it would be a great idea to take the four grandchildren up to a photo studio at the mall that morning before Andy & family had to hit the road. Seemed like 3 adults to 4 kids, 2 in strollers, was a safe enough ratio to pull it off. There's a nice little play area too where the kids could romp a bit.
Well, after the photo op and before the pictures were ready, I had to leave them to go to a doctor's appt. On my way back to meet them again at the mall I thought it strange Ellie and Joanna weren't answering their cell phones.
Once inside the food court we met up and I saw Elylah and Ellie both had totally different outfits on. Ellie looked like she'd just seen a ghost. Come to find out that while Joanna was picking out some pictures, Ellie took Deacon, Elylah, and Owen (in the stoller) over to the fountain in the middle of the mall, as I had provided pennies for them to throw in. Elylah and I have done this on many occasions.
Apparently Elylah leaned just a bit too far over the edge, and you guessed it, she went into the water, head first. She was totally submerged (her words: "I was floating away"). Ellie instinctively jumped into the water to rescue her and she said Elylah really was floating away. She had to grab her by the leg to get her out. In the process her cell phone and camera were destroyed as she had them on her arm. She said there was no time to even lay them down, or even think about it!
Elylah was shaken up but later fine, mostly upset that one of her shoes was lost in the water. (The mall called, they've retrieved it). Joanna felt bad for Ellie, but was mostly numb. Ellie was pretty much a basket case, feeling responsible for it happening. Every parent knows that feeling of those "close calls" and the "what ifs". With little ones things can just happen so fast. It's a miracle that somehow Elylah didn't appear to even have swallowed any water...she didn't even cough or anything when she got out, just cried of course. Ellie was totally soaked and ran into a store and said "I need a top and pants, QUICK!"
The kids resumed playing in the food court play area while the two moms and I sat and basically could not believe what had just happened.
And thus ends my account of my "grand" Mother's Day week and my endless photo-bragging about the precious little people in my life. Thanks for bearing with me!
p.s. The professional photos turned out great!
another p.s. Ellie put her cell phone in a bag of rice and after it dried out, it is working again! Her camera is in the hospital...we'll see what happens
4 comments:
Your grandchildren are adorable...looking at the last photo brings back memories of our 4 middle grandchildren who were that same age together...You may brag about them as often as you like Jacquelyn...grandmothers allow each other to do that!
Thank you Wanda. Don't you just love the way Deacon has his arms extended around the younger ones? He just did that instinctively!
Wonderful, wonderful pictures of your sweet "grands"! I, too, am sandwiched. Our 3 children & their families are at least 3 hours away from us..parents, within an hour. So thegatespost is intended to encourage our kids & grandkids...while the other two are for more mature friends :) Blogging has brought many blessings to my life in the form of new acquaintances and friends like yourself. And yes, I enjoy Maeve Binchy novels. She just doesn't write enough of them!
Jacquelyn...I had also noticed Elylah was reaching out for Deacon's hand in the photo just above the last one...thought that was sweet...and Owen with the blond hair actually looks like my grandson Grant at that age...He's now 16.
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