Anything worth getting excited about is "super deluxe" to Evan. That's his term for it and I love it.
He and I spent the afternoon together today. Taylor was at school, John at work and Sky and Alexa had a girls club to go to. Everyone was out and about except my little guy and I (or is it "me"....grammar is not my strong point).
Anyhoo, it was so freakin' gorgeous out that we could not pass up the chance to grab some of that sunshine for ourselves. So after we dropped off the girls we went on a nature walk.
Evan thought we were just going through the neighborhood and he was A-OK with that, but I had a teensy bit more in store.
When he was little, as in still-in-a-stroller-not-able-to-walk-yet little, I would take the kids to this pond/walking path/playground tucked back in a neighborhood near our house. Since he has no recollection of this, he had no idea this place existed.
We began our walk and he seemed to be cool with it, then he caught sight of the pond. He said, "Whoa! That's a BIG pond!" It is kinda big actually, especially for just being smack dab in the midst of suburbia.
We walked closer and saw some action in the water.....some turtles and frogs.
He had a bit of trouble seeing them as their camouflage was working well for them, but I pointed out the circular ripples in the water and how they indicate movement.
He thought that was pretty neat and was trying hard to see them.
But then he slipped and hit his knee on the edge of the walkway. It wasn't too bad and he didn't cry but he just kept rubbing it and moving it around and that's when he noticed the playground not too far off.
Then suddenly the nature became somewhat boring and old news to him and off he went. He healed quickly at that point too. Oh the healing powers of a beckoning playground. :)
It was a small playground right next to the path that was next to the lake, so I was able to still watch the pond and him at the same time. I noticed some geese and ducks. They were causing a bit of a ruckus.....maybe a territorial thing. I don't know, but they were noisy.
That got Evan's attention back to nature. He came over to the fence at the edge of the pond to watch with me. He thought they were "pretty cool".
The ducks and geese noticed us and seemed to be quite accustomed to people because they started heading across the pond, towards us.....at a rapid pace.
(We had a bit of an incident with the feathered ones in the past, when I used to bring the kids here. We would bring bread to feed them, but then they get to where they demanded it. They'd get pretty feisty. It's like they're thinking...."yo! you looked at us, we came over, now give us bread!.....or else!" )
So having learned from the past. I got Evan back to the playground and within a few minutes they were heading back to the other shore. I felt a small sense of relief.
I wasn't that worried to begin with. I could take on the geese. Yeah there might be 15 of them, but I'm much taller. I could take'em, if they wanted to start something.
The geese were cracking me up a bit as I noticed them dunking their heads down in the water for food. It reminded me of a scene from the movie Aristocats. The scene where the 2 geese are trying to find O'Malley who went under water. They say, "Bottoms up!".....
then "Deeper!"....all said in their English accents so it sounds more like "deepah".
I always loved that part.
We played a bit more at the playground then continued on and saw a butterfly and some interesting trees and little wildflowers and eventually a weeping willow tree. Very cool. We both felt the tree looked like a sad person with their shoulders and head just hanging low. We agreed it's a beautiful tree though.
We headed back on the path (avoiding eye contact with the ducks and geese, for obvious reasons) and after another brief stop at the playground, then went home.
But seriously....a word to the wise....watch out for those "innocent looking" feathered ones.
He and I spent the afternoon together today. Taylor was at school, John at work and Sky and Alexa had a girls club to go to. Everyone was out and about except my little guy and I (or is it "me"....grammar is not my strong point).
Anyhoo, it was so freakin' gorgeous out that we could not pass up the chance to grab some of that sunshine for ourselves. So after we dropped off the girls we went on a nature walk.
When he was little, as in still-in-a-stroller-not-able-to-walk-yet little, I would take the kids to this pond/walking path/playground tucked back in a neighborhood near our house. Since he has no recollection of this, he had no idea this place existed.
We began our walk and he seemed to be cool with it, then he caught sight of the pond. He said, "Whoa! That's a BIG pond!" It is kinda big actually, especially for just being smack dab in the midst of suburbia.
We walked closer and saw some action in the water.....some turtles and frogs.
He had a bit of trouble seeing them as their camouflage was working well for them, but I pointed out the circular ripples in the water and how they indicate movement.
He thought that was pretty neat and was trying hard to see them.
But then he slipped and hit his knee on the edge of the walkway. It wasn't too bad and he didn't cry but he just kept rubbing it and moving it around and that's when he noticed the playground not too far off.
Then suddenly the nature became somewhat boring and old news to him and off he went. He healed quickly at that point too. Oh the healing powers of a beckoning playground. :)
That got Evan's attention back to nature. He came over to the fence at the edge of the pond to watch with me. He thought they were "pretty cool".
The ducks and geese noticed us and seemed to be quite accustomed to people because they started heading across the pond, towards us.....at a rapid pace.
So having learned from the past. I got Evan back to the playground and within a few minutes they were heading back to the other shore. I felt a small sense of relief.
The geese were cracking me up a bit as I noticed them dunking their heads down in the water for food. It reminded me of a scene from the movie Aristocats. The scene where the 2 geese are trying to find O'Malley who went under water. They say, "Bottoms up!".....
then "Deeper!"....all said in their English accents so it sounds more like "deepah".
I always loved that part.
We played a bit more at the playground then continued on and saw a butterfly and some interesting trees and little wildflowers and eventually a weeping willow tree. Very cool. We both felt the tree looked like a sad person with their shoulders and head just hanging low. We agreed it's a beautiful tree though.
We had some yummy cookies and milk! We made the cookies yesterday! They are Halloween shapes with icing and sprinkles on top. They look almost too good to eat.
Then Evan and I watched a Winnie the Pooh Halloween movie and snuggled on the couch till it was time to pick up the girls. Awesome afternoon.
Beautiful weather, great company, refreshing walk. I love that little guy!
It was a Super Deluxe Thursday afternoon!
Hope you have a super deluxe weekend, too!
Make it special!
TTFN
~Tina
But seriously....a word to the wise....watch out for those "innocent looking" feathered ones.
1 comment:
Glad you two got to spend such a wonderful time together! You're a great Mom/teacher as always! Loved your descriptions and for sharing your thoughts on the geese and the bit from Aristocats. I don't remember that part or much else of that movie. I guess I'll have to watch it again. Great nature pics! Evan looked like he was enjoying the playground.
The cookies really look yummy! and watching a Halloween movie - what a great treat for you and Evan! Makin' those wonderful memories!
Hope the rest of your weekend is just as super! LYAB!!
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