Core Memory Made: The One Shoe Superhero

In the summer of 2021, our family was striving to make up for lost time after missing out on so many adventures during the pandemic.  Before, 2020, MANY weekends were reserved for my small business, as an in-home & online boutique owner.  We were either hosting live videos with a style that just arrived or packing for a pop-up party or all-day vendor event.  When the (you know what) hit the fan in 2020, one of the positives that came out of it, was FREE-TIME with family.  There was no guilt when I wasn’t working or half-hearted attempts to achieve a work life balance, because a lot of the events that took up family time, were flat out canceled.  Don’t get me wrong it was scary, upsetting, and frustrating, to say the least, but my hubby and I have a core life philosophy to always look for the silver lining, lesson, and positive perspective in any event.  One of our MAJOR takeaways from that crazy time, was regaining some of what we had lost: free time, creative time, simple pleasures, etc.  There were also things that we wanted to return to “normal” as soon as possible, which included our ability to go out and enjoy shops, excursions, new towns, etc. 

SO, when things started to calm down, shops and restaurants started opening, and travel resuming, we were ready to take on fun local adventures, again, but this time with a greater appreciation for them, and a newfound respect for our family time!  One of my favorite memories from that summer involves a family day with me, Tam, our two little girls & our niece who was visiting from out of town!  We decided to explore some fun shops, treats, and sightseeing capped off with our kiddos’ first experience with river rafting, and what will forever be known as the “ONE SHOE SUPERHERO,” adventure! 

On this particular day in June, we found a place to glide down the river where the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers meet, it was supposed to be an easy, but fun float, with no white water, since our girls have never gone before (they were 5 and 8 years old at the time).  We apparently underestimated how dry the summer had been, because there were large sections of the river where we barely moved for extended periods of time, so we had to help ourselves along.  There were all those typical first-time moments for kiddos: one kiddo was scared not knowing what to expect, another hated the feeling of her life vest, and both were a little freaked out by the damsel flies joining us on our trip.  When, I say a little freaked out, I mean, Ada almost flung herself from her raft on multiple occasions, all because a fly hovered near her.  The kiddos were filing their screen-free time with adorably creative games that only kids can come up with. However, the calm water unexpectedly & RAPIDLY, gave way to rough water, as we all careened toward a handful of large boulders.  What would follow is one of those moments that happens so fast, but simultaneously your brain processes it in slow motion, and at the end of it, you feel equally relieved & terrified by what just took place!

We didn’t have enough time to steer away from the rough water, so we all locked hands/rafts so that we could easy the kiddos fears, and make sure everyone made it over the rocks safely!  As we rode out the rough patch, my bottom half scraped over the large boulder and our oldest was tossed off her innertube!  She never let go, and I steadied her tube, and hands making sure she held on tight, all while holding onto Ada who took turns riding on one of our laps.  Cora was unable to make it back up onto her innertube, and the water was still moving rapidly, but Tam hopped off his innertube and waded over to help Cora back up.  Everyone made it back to their innertubes safely, but it was a pretty scary few seconds, that definitely could have gone another way!  When all calmed down, Tam realized that he had lost a water shoe in the rocky, swift current!  By this point we were trying to calm the kiddos and cheer them up after a scary ride, and we started reliving what just happened.  As we laughed off the nerves, we praised Cora & Ada for their bravery & quick thinking, and realized that while mommy tried to hold it all together (LITERALLY), and keep everyone calm, DADDY LEPT INTO ACTION to SAVE THE DAY, like a, Superhero, A “ONE SHOED SUPER HERO,” since the rivers claimed his water shoe for its prize!  That was it, the name stuck, and the day will forever live in infamy!

Below is the silly and creative take on our adventure & story we shared with our boutique followers that summer.  The intro contains my apology to those ladies for changing from an EVER-PRESENT source of entertainment, to a more selective, intentional, balanced mom & business owner. 

“ I hope you are all having your Best Weekend possible!  I know I was incognito yesterday, and I want to thank you for understanding when I ghost on Summer Weekends!  Transitioning from Pandemic Summer 2020 when all we had was time, to Weird Summer 2021, when time feels like a commodity again… with Tam’s new demanding job, last minute everything, because who knows how to plan anymore‍, and so many adventures we missed last year, one thing I know for sure is we need these weekends to have Fun and Connect with each other!  My parents’ moto used to be: “Work Hard & Play Harder,” and I feel like we are trying to live up to this motto every chance we get!  We had a blast spontaneous living yesterday, and I wanted to stop by to share some of our joy and adventure with you, because I wouldn’t be able to make my own schedule and make these memories if it wasn’t for you all!!!

Storytime from Our Saturdays:  

We traveled to the magical divide between two states to glide down the waterway at the whim of nature, but we got impatient and tried endlessly to doggy paddle our way through dead spots in the mystic river!   We saw Fish, Turtles, Ducks, were followed by dozens of blue damsel flies, cried about being followed by damselflies & and the wonderous flotation device we had to wear, got excited about first times, giggled, sang together, played: “what if you were a sea monster like Luca, what color would you be?!”, collected pretend bones from the water, found a feather, totally got burned by the giant fireball in the sky, almost fell off the magical floating water craft, adventured over a patch of unexpectedly angry water (I think it is because we took the water bones) & TOTALLY fell off the water craft, clung for dear life, were rescued by Daddy, who shall now be known as: “The One Shoe Super Hero,” made a water shoe offering to the Goddess of the Lehigh & God of the Delaware Rivers!  We celebrated surviving our epic journey with tasty treats from local food stands & Penn State Creamery Ice Cream (now available in Bethlehem for fellow lovers who don’t want to drive hundreds of miles to score some).  All around it was the stuff the perfectly, imperfect, Saturdays that are talked about forever, are made of!!!  

If you are feeling up to it, tell us your Saturday Story about your Perfectly Perfect or Imperfect Day!” 💜