Lovely Day

Last night was a rough one. Something Hannah ate didn’t agree with her, and, well, I’ll spare you the details. Suffice it to say, I went through a lot of carpet cleaner around midnight last night. I was pretty tired this morning. Once I got up and got us all through breakfast (toast with just a bit of jelly and one swig of Gatorade for Hannah), I didn’t really feel like planning an exciting day for the girls. So when Lily asked if we could go play in the “backyard” (the greenspace behind my condo), I said that was a great idea.

There’s not much to do out behind my condo. There’s a sidewalk and a tree with a tire swing. There’s a small hill that looks out on the subdivision with a couple of benches on top. That’s about it. But fresh air and sunshine sounded great to all of us. We grabbed some supplies (just the essentials: a baby doll for Lily and cameras for Hannah and me), put on our hiking shoes, and headed outside.

It was cold, but not too cold since the sun was shining. The light was great for taking pictures, so halfway up the hill, Hannah and I asked Lily to model for us while we lay on our bellies snapping photos. At the top of the hill, there’s a stone bench next to a great big tree. Lily was so proud of herself when she climbed up on the bench all by herself today for the first time. Nearby, both girls spent some time digging up little rocks that were half-buried in the ground. I mentioned that there was some kind of pet rock craze back in the 70s, so they set about finding the perfect pet rocks. Then we had a nice easy stroll down the far side of the hill and around to the condo, with a stop by the tire swing.

And now there are five rocks on the kitchen counter, each with a little face drawn in by a Sharpie. I love my little adventurers. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend the afternoon.

Image: “Adventurer,” me, Flickr (CC)