Today was one of those days that reminds me why I hold onto the chaos instead of fighting it all the time.

We took the kids to Let’s Fly and I don’t even fully know how to explain it. Immersive. Overstimulating. Hilarious. Beautiful. Loud. Somehow magical. All at once, all the time, everywhere you turned.

We learned things. We laughed nonstop. We got attacked by art installations and I mean that literally. At one point Lynnlee accidentally knocked part of an exhibit directly into my face and ripped my nose ring clean out. Because obviously. My eyes watered immediately. I wanted to cry. Ten minutes later I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe. That’s just kind of how it goes with us.

Kayson nearly got taken out by exhibits multiple times. A piece of artwork absolutely assaulted Lynnlee’s forehead with chalk.

And while we were driving through Dallas, we passed a building Kayson’s dad once got stuck in. That sweet little soul looked genuinely concerned and asked, “Did he ever get out?” despite having literally seen the man this morning. The innocence of kids absolutely kills me sometimes.

There was a tornado room packed full of balloons where even Kris laughed like a little kid again. A giant pool three feet deep in ball pit balls. A blacked-out room with a light show so beautiful I genuinely don’t have words for it. Everywhere you turned there was something new to touch, climb through, stare at, or apparently injure yourself on. Loud and messy and overwhelming in the best possible way.

Somehow after all that, we came home and did yard work. Rode bikes. Then went to dinner to celebrate Hailey making straight As and Justin getting accepted into engineering school. Thomas was our server, Todd and Boo Bah showed up, and the whole family was there except Tyler, because crowds aren’t his thing and honestly I get that completely.

Justin’s girlfriend came too, and I just adore her. She’s from France, incredibly smart, wants to become a doctor, and earned a full ride scholarship for it. Watching her and Justin talk about their futures, him heading into engineering, her into medicine, made my mama heart embarrassingly proud.

One minute your kids are throwing chalk at their own foreheads and drowning in ball pits. The next they’re building futures. It was just a really good day. The loud kind. The exhausting kind. The kind you’ll miss someday.