Multnomah Falls

At the end of August we went on a family road trip. We saw the Seattle Aquarium the first day, Multnomah Falls and the ocean (boulder beach in Oregon) the 2nd day, Mt St Helens the 3rd day and Woodland Park Zoo the 4th day.

I was super afraid to travel because of all of the issues I’ve had with my back lately, which has caused a whole new world of anxieties that I wasn’t prepared for. But I couldn’t miss out on Bugs 1st actual road trip with her cousins (and grandma and grandpa!!) So I decided I’d handle whatever pain I needed to in order to make the trip happen.

Out of all the amazing moments of our trip the one I was most excited to come home and blog about was our experience at the falls. I wasn’t feeling like walking too much. We had gotten up early, my back pain was searing and my feet were so swollen it felt like they were going to burst open. So I was going to sit with Mom and Dad at the 1st area where you can see a gorgeous view of the bottom of the waterfall. My nieces and Dalton and Clayton (2 of my brothers) wanted to walk up to the bridge that seemed to be about halfway up the waterfall, and even though I would have LOVED to have been able to take my little angel to the bridge, I knew I'd never make it. Luckily enough she didn't want to go, at first. After watching the girls cross the bridge Zabrina decided that she wanted to also walk up the mountain, so I made a deal with her, we'd walk up the first leg of the path to the bench I could see. She happily agreed. We made it to the bench and I could feel the pain in my back starting to take hold and my legs were starting to tense. We sat at the bench and had a quick photo shoot. After sitting for a few minutes with her on the bench I looked up the next leg of the path and realized that we could see the another view of the waterfall, and was considering attempting the next leg of the trail. Almost as she could read my mind Zabrina says "Mommy look! Waterfall, yets go" (misspelling intended so you get the feel of the toddler talk) I said back "Baby Mommy would love to take you up there, but Mommy doesn't thin her back would make it" and then she hit me with it, my kryptonite, "Mommy PWEASSSEEE" she said with the cutest look on her face, and I just couldn't resist.

About halfway up the leg to our destination my legs started to cramp super bad in the calves, and my back felt like it was going to cave in on itself. I stopped walking, the tears building up in my eyes, I looked at Zabrina and I said "Baby I'm so sorry, I can't do this" She gave me the kindest most empathetic little look, then grabbed my hand and started pulling me while she said "C'mon Mommy we've got this" and some how that little hand in mine sparked a burst of bravery and strength and I walked with her, tears running down my face, partly because of pain and partly because this is yet another moment this little miracle has pulled me through a tough moment. And we made it! As soon as we stepped on the cement that flattened out to the next part, Zabrina dropped my hand, ran to the rock wall and screamed while clapping her hands "Mommy we did it!! You the best mommy ever!" And it hit me.. we didn't make it to the bridge, we didn't make it to the top, but we made it to the 2nd leg.. and THAT was all it took to capture an amazing view of the waterfall, get some priceless pictures of her gorgeous face mixed with her goofy little poses, and most importantly .. I made her proud. She didn't care we didn't go where her cousins went, she didn't have the slightest clue that her mom was embarrassed, All she cared about was THAT step, THAT leg, THAT milestone. And with that... another life lesson brought to me mostly in part by my daughter.

I told her that one day we will make it to the top, one day mommy will be strong enough to go alllll the way up and back down. She got so excited at the idea that it has now been added to our goals list... Make it to the top of Multnomah Falls with Zabina.