The Birthday Mini-Series: Part 6: Hot Springs And Hot Coat Hangers

On Monday we took another great Wyoming adventure. This time it involved swimsuits and hot springs. Less than an hour away from our ranch is a town that has "the world's largest mineral hot springs." Now, the truth of that is up for debate, but nonetheless they're just a quick drive down the highway.

I always laugh at how ghetto this place is that we go to. There are 3 water slides, a big outdoor pool with a high dive, an indoor pool, etc. There are rules posted on the walls but I have yet to see most of them enforced. The "lifeguard" was really a possibly-uncertified guy in his 50's or 60's working on his tan, and one time I have visited this place and they asked if we were lifeguards because they were short staffed and wanted us to lifeguard while we were there!

Anyways, we had a ball, ghetto and all.

We played basketball in the pool and wore ourselves out. I am still adorning a gorgeous knot and bruise on my left leg. We also all enjoyed the slides and playing with both The Prairie Kid and The Baby in the water. And we dared each other to try out the high dive. The first time I went up I looked down, freaked out, and climbed back down the ladder. Later, when my brave sister and husband had courageously jumped I decided to try again.

I hate free falls. Even if they're only 10-15 feet. I can jump off anything if I am harnessed into something. I love ropes courses, climbing walls, etc. I will scale them like spider woman with my long limbs. But you take me out of a harness and I am a chicken.

But I also believe in conquering fear. It grows character and confidence. It is amazing what overcoming fear like this can do for someone.

So I went back up. And I walked to the end. And I held my nose. And I chickened out. But I stayed up there. And tried again. And chickened out. And tried again. And chickened out. And tried again. And chickened out. This repeated itself for what felt like an eternity but was really only a minute or two. And then...

I JUMPED! And the water felt wonderfully warm and I came popping back up and cheered for myself! Hooray! My character has grown! And then my other sister went, and my nephew. Great job guys!

That night we mustered up enough reserve energy to do something that we have never before done on our ranch. We built a bonfire on the shore of the reservoir at dusk. It was gorgeous out. And we took along all the fixins' for s'mores.

At this point I should admit that while waiting in the car for my sister to finish feeding The Baby, I put in an old Dolly Parton CD and we sang. And then some Sillies overtook me in the presence of my sisters and I danced and entertained them. We laughed hard.

Okay, back to the not-so-vulnerable-and-revealing-of-my-silly side campfire. It was awesome. I hadn't roasted a marshmallow for years. I love roasting marshmallows. I like to find the perfect coals, and slowly wait for my marshmallow to puff and brown. I think I should become a professional marshmallow roaster. Do you know of anyone who would hire me and pay me big money for these professional skills?

The night was beautiful. There wasn't hardly a breeze. It was fun. We tried to think up some old campfire songs that we used to sing but they weren't coming to us. The one I could really remember was "I'm an old cow hand from the Rio Grande. And I learned to ride, 'for I learned to stand. I'm a cowgirl who never saw a cow, never roped a steer cause I don't know how. Yippee-yi-o-ki-aye OHHHHH, yippee-yi-o-ki-aye."

I guess I wasn't done revealing vulnerable areas of my life.