A Hint of Summer

Yesterday was a really fun day. It started out with a bunch of moms from our Titus group getting together for a play date at McKee Farm Park, one of J's favorites in Madison. It was already no jacket weather at 10:30am and was beautifully sunny. It felt like a hint of summer. The kids had a great time especially on the slide. My friend Eileen would send her son down and I'd catch him, then she'd send J down so I could catch him and they loved it. They also loved walking along a ledge with us holding their hands. Eileen got some good pictures too. Speaking of pictures, it turns out that I won't be fixing my camera. It would actually cost more to fix it than the camera's worth because parts are so expensive. So I went to plan B and used my credit card miles to buy a new one. I can't wait to start taking pictures again as I love recording our days that way. After the park, Eileen and I headed down the street to Noodles for lunch with the boys. I put J in a booster seat for the first time and he did well.

When we got home, I thought J would be tired and want a nap but he kept saying outside so we threw the balls back and forth. Our neighbor came over to visit and to see my garden. He and I always talk about our gardens and what's growing. J and I went to Elver Park to get more mulch. I let him get out and he wanted to help so he held onto the shovel as I guided the mulch into the bucket. He loved it. We got to watch a fire truck that was practicing driving through cones. Then we played in the park for a while. We got a lot of fresh air. J was a good sport as I took him to the second hand shop to look for a few summer outfits. When I'd hold up a shirt to look at it he'd say, "put that one here mommy" and point into the cart. Such a cutie. Before his nap, I read him a counting book. He's learning to count to ten. He'd say 1-2-3-4-6-7-10 on just about every page.

We met with our life group for a night of sharing. The topics were: Talk about your best friend, your happiest moment over the last few months, confession on what would you like to do over from last week, your vision for life group. This ended up being a great opportunity to get to know one another better. My happiest moment was when J and I went to the grocery store and were "dancing" in our seats in the parking lot. Also a time I was holding him right before bed and just rocked him and held him close savoring the moment.

This morning Eileen and her son joined J and I at Pal Zone. J was not into the story time part. He was more interested in another boy's toy and got very physical trying to grab it and I had to step in. He got loud and upset so we went back to the play room where he calmed down. After lunch and an errand, we spent some time hanging out at the library. I'm able to browse or go check out books at the counter now while J plays in the kids area. I used to need to carry him with me so he wouldn't run around but he's getting really good about staying in one place. J had another interesting dinner. Two packs of apple sauce and some goldfish were all I could get him to eat. When I was walking into the nursery at the Y, I heard a little voice saying "fire fighters" and I knew it was J. Sure enough he had on a fire helmet along with the boy next to him and they were playing fire fighter. He was really wound up, I wasn't sure if he'd go to sleep but he did.