A Cider Mill, A River, and A New Walker

Today was the perfect cool fall day and we decided to head to the cider mill for some cider and donuts after a long few days filled with teething and hardcore potty training.

It started off as an amazing mother/daughters day with complete with giggles, sweet treats hot-from-the-oven, and just soaking in the beauty of fall in Michigan.

We had finished our cider and donuts and decided we’d go for a walk around the grounds. Really, this was my attempt to wear out the girls as best I could to ensure naps. I thought we were off to a good start when Kinley decided to go back and forth on this bridge about 100 times.

We followed a pretty little trail along a river, winding our way and chatting about all the different color leaves we were seeing.

I decided to get Karina out of her stroller so she could walk on the path alongside her sister. Walking quickly turned into toddler-style running with little falls every few feet due to the bumpy terrain. The girl’s 14 months old. She’s going to fall as she figures out this whole moving around thing. I figured it was just grass and didn’t think anything of it.

I was about 15 feet behind the girls, observing as they picked up leaves and Kinley tried to hold Karina’s hand. I had just set my camera down in the stroller after snapping away when I witnessed what every mother fears…Karina, tripped, fell and ROLLED into the river. The freaking RIVER! {shown on the left in the photo above…pretty much right before the fall}.

As any other mom would do, I ran as fast I could and jumped right into the waist-deep river, pulling her up by her coat to the surface. I quickly threw her onto my shoulder to hit her back and allow her to cough up some water. She was in the water for not even 10 seconds, but LORD. My heart felt like it was an eternity. I then understood how it is moms can pick things up that weigh as much as a ton when they see their baby is in danger.

She had a few cries and then just stared at me in shock. I checked her and she was completely fine — no bumps, bruises or scratches.

Meanwhile, Kinley was behind me screaming “Karina felled into the river!!!” and “Karina is wet!” She was in shock too, apparently.

There was nobody around to hear. In a way I felt relived because I wasn’t exactly feeling like mother of the year after I witnessed my baby girl tumble into the cold water.

We walked as fast as you can while soaked back to our van. I stripped her down and wrapped her in a towel I keep in our van to protect the floors. We had extra clothes in case of a potty accident, so I quickly dressed her in warm clothes, wrapped her blankie around her, and cranked the heat.

When I stared down at my legs and feet dripping with water, I couldn’t help but say a prayer of thanks because it could’ve gone much worse. So glad an angel was watching out for us and keeping my little nugget safe from harm.

Fast asleep on the ride home

Funny thing is, this was me many years ago. When I was 3, I walked right into our pond and my dad had to jump in and rescue me {he was mowing the lawn nearby}. That story comes up at just about every family gathering.

I can only hope this was just a blip on Karina’s radar and we’re done with scary moments for awhile. I knew I had to blog about it so I can tease her in the future like my family has teased me…Or, she can joke with me how I, her mother-of-the-year, let her roll into a freaking river!

These kids sure do keep me on my toes.

Have you had any parent-of-the-year moments recently?