Whims to Wings — Stolen By a Bohlen

Sep 28

Sep 28 Whims to Wings

I hate starting a blog post with a definition. It seems tacky and uncreative, but in this case, I really like the translation of the word “whim.”

WHIM (n): a capricious or eccentric and often sudden idea or turn of the mind

It’s the very thing that happened to us on one of our semi-monthly visits to the butcher. What was just a little girls road trip to buy some meat turned into a beautiful day of new experiences! When we pulled up to the butcher, I noticed there were hardly any spots to park. I had to P A R A L L E L park on the street and folks, that is NEVER a pretty sight…even when you drive a clown car!

Waylin and I noticed there was some kind of an event going on down the street. I asked her if she wanted to walk down there and see what it was all about, and she said “yesh.” She held my hand as we walked towards all the music and people. It was a little festival called Wabash Days in the tiny town of Forrest with a population of only 1,100 people.

As we were walking towards everything, a bright, shiny red fire truck caught her eye. She wanted to go look at it, so we did. When we got closer, this really nice Fire Chief asked Waylin if she wanted to fight some fires. Waylin got a little shy, but he said she could hold the hose to put the fire out.

She loved it! I was really impressed with how well she held onto the hose and pointed it at the fire. She even look up at me and said “HOT!” ❤ When she saved the town of Forrest from a house fire, the firefighters brought a big bowl of candy for her to choose. She made me really proud by grabbing two Reese’s! #thatagirl

I don’t really know what to call these people other than “the bubble people.” They were selling bubble solutions and wands that promised to make huge bubbles, even ones that you could fit a person inside! These bubbles were L E G I T! I was impressed and actually would have bought some if I had change. Waylin made that huge bubble that you see in the second picture!

I thought we were going to enter a tantrum when I tried to move away from the bubble station. I could see her frustration rising, but someone was looking out for me. All of a sudden, we heard a big tractor go by. Ah! The perfect distraction! 🤣

After we looked at all the old tractors, Waylin found a “photo op" booth! A lady brought a bunch of costumes and backgrounds for kids to take silly pictures with. They even had a life-size Barbie box costume for kids to wear. Waylin found the best background of them all: a giant butterfly!

Hello, again, model baby! 😍

This was hands down the coolest part of the festival. And look how perfect her dress matches the colors within the butterfly! After I snapped this picture, Way stood there looking up at the butterfly and I just thought “WOW.” How crazy is it that we came to this little town just to buy meat. I threw on this dress because it was laundry day and it was all we had. I thought it was a little excessive for a road trip to buy beef, but here we are with a giant matching butterfly!

I’m so glad we decided to walk down to the festival on a whim. I didn’t know what was going to be there, but I thought surely there’s something to look at…and WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT! 👀

I remember being a new mom and being so terrified to do this very thing: go somewhere new. I wasn’t comfortable with who I was and this new role that I had been given. I was scared I was going to forget something or be somewhere that felt like a dessert with no supplies, even though my diaper bag was packed to the brim with everything I needed.

Today, I felt so sure of myself when we walked hand-in-hand to their downtown square to see what the festival had going on. I don’t know. Maybe I’m not communicating this clearly, but it is just crazy to think that I could have missed out on such a fun time with my girl at one point in time because of fear. Now, I’m not a completely fearless mama. I still sit in my car when I leave with her and do a mental check list of bottle, snacks, diaper, wipes…✔. And, you’ll still see me pulling in and out of my driveway several times in the morning because I forgot something. 😂