[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text]

Written by Rowonna McNeely – Friday night, we ventured out to the Christmas Under the Stars festival. It’s always a great event. There are so many things for children to do. Kiera was ecstatic. She had been waiting all week for the festival. We found a parking spot and Kiera was out of the truck in a flash.

[adrotate group=”8″]

“Hold on.” Aaron stated as he closed the truck door. He held her hand as we crossed the street.

As soon as she saw all the lights and slides, my mature seven-year old was gone. Suddenly, she was replaced with a seven-year old that could not stop bouncing, talking or be still.

“I want to go down the slides!” She exclaimed as she bounced and walked at the same time.

“O.k.” I responded using a calm tone. It had no effect. We approached the tent where the line formed for the slides. I quickly signed the waiver form and thankfully the line moved at a fast pace.

“Which one do you want to go down first?” I asked, leaning down so I could hear her response.

She looked at the two different slides. One was your average bounce house slide. The other one was aptly named, Snow Mountain. It stood 33 feet tall. I watched as Kiera’s eyes glazed over as she took the sight of it in.

“I want to go down Snow Mountain!” She exclaimed loudly. Technically, I probably did not have to bend down to hear her at that point.

We moved to the Snow Mountain line. As it got closer to her turn, she started to ramble. “I don’t know… It’s really tall.” She turned to look up at me. “You know… I’m kind of afraid of heights.”

Before I could reassure her, she blurted out, “You know what? I can do this! I will conquer my fear!”

I grinned at her. I have to admit I was a little leery about her sliding down 33 feet, but I was not going to argue with her wanting to conquer her fear.

When it was her turn, she fearlessly climbed up the steps that led to the top. I could see her grin as she sat on the edge, preparing to push off. She was practically beaming. And then she was sliding. I waited at the bottom for her.

She bounced over to us and exclaimed, “I want to go again!!”

Aaron and I laughed and convinced her to go inside the Depot to see all the fun things and then we would come back out. “Oh, I have to go make my cross!” She said excitedly as she took off pulling me across the parking lot.

There are several repeat vendors every year at the festival. One of those is McCoy’s. Some of their employees dress as elves and help the kids build a cross. Then the kids are given a package of stickers and directed to a table where they can decorate them.

I wasn’t sure we were ever going to leave the decorating table. The designer in Kiera came out in force. I watched as she placed a flower sticker in one spot. She paused for a moment, and then moved it to another area. This happened with several stickers. Finally, she was satisfied with her cross and we moved on.

She flittered from booth to booth. We took pictures of her with photo booth props, had her face painted, was read a Christmas story at the library booth, she even stopped to see Santa.

Then we headed back outside to tackle the slides and drive the Big Wheels. She was non-stop; her feet barely touched the ground as she ran from one thing to another.

Aaron and I were able to take a breath when she was waiting in line on the slides. For all her bouncing and flittering around, she did slow down at one point.

She was standing in line on the smaller slide. A younger girl had gone ahead of Kiera. The younger girl was stuck at the top of the slide and was afraid to slide down. The gentleman, who was in charge of helping at the slide, was trying to coax her down without leaving his position. He turned to see who was next in line and spied Kiera.

“Are you a good leader?” He asked Kiera. “Could you go and see if you can help her?” He motioned to the little girl at the top of the slide.

Kiera immediately climbed to the top. She squatted down by the little girl, held out her hand and said something to her. The little girl took Kiera’s hand and they slid down together.

The man thanked Kiera and complimented her on her leadership skills. Kiera smiled and got back in line, as did the other little girl. I was so proud of Kiera as she went down the slide with a couple of different younger girls, holding their hands. It was really amazing watching her calm down to help the younger ones.

As soon as she was away from them, she was flittering and bouncing all over again.  It was only when we were back in the truck and headed home that she crashed from all the excitement. There were not even any arguments when we asked if she was ready for bed.

A great time was had by all at the Christmas Under the Stars festival!  Thanks to all who helped put on such a great event, worked tirelessly and made it all happen!

Thank you for sharing in our weekly journeys. If you have missed any of our past stories, check out our new blog page at www.lifea2k.net or drop us a line at [email protected].

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_team_member admin_label=”Rowonna McNeely” saved_tabs=”all” name=”Rowonna McNeely” position=”Graphic Designer – Mommy to Kiera” image_url=”https://brownwood.onecmsdev.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/1378/2016/12/RoandKiera.jpg” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]

Rowonna McNeely works with her husband, Aaron, at Willie’s T’s in the Art Department, regularly volunteers in the community, and has her hands full with her daughter, Kiera, along with two dogs and one cat.

Rowonna is a graduate of May High School (Go Tigers!) and grew up on a dairy farm. She enjoys reading, creating, swimming, and planning events. She’s also a bit of a klutz.

[/et_pb_team_member][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]