The Perfect Day

We've discovered nirvana for two year olds. Its a day at the beach, a picnic by the river, then a tractor ride with Daddy. Grady was so excited, he was spinning in circles! We'd been talking about it with him for a couple days and went on Memorial Day to Wabasis Park first thing when it got warm enough.

He couldn't wait to hit the water. There were a bunch of kids in there, no adults, which should have been my first clue. That water was COLD! But after a little hesitation over putting his bare feet on the sand ("Carry me, Mommy") he ran right in the water and splashed around. Of course, I had to go in with him but I got used to the water after a bit - maybe went numb? He didn't even freak out when I showed him the minnows in the water, just chased them up and down.

Pretty quickly, he fell and landed on his bottom, chest-deep in the water. He gasped at the shock of the cold then stood up, ran a few steps and dropped to his bottom again. Quite the game for a while. He played ball with me... until some cute 6 year old girls lost their ball near us. He threw it back to them then told me, "No, Mommy, I want to play ball with THEM." And they were very sweet and let him. Oh, and Daddy avoided the cold water altogether as the photographer. Mental note for next time :o) But he got great shots.

We kept asking Grady if he was ready for his picnic but he loved playing in the water and didnt' want to get out. When his teeth actually began to chatter, we yanked him out against his will and warmed him up with a towel before heading to the beach playground where he went down the "tubey" slide about 209 times.

We drove down to Fallasburg Park near Lowell for a picnic along the river. Lots of people fishing but not crowded at all so it was perfect with the covered bridge right there - lovely. I must have been channelling my great-grandma, Nana, because I got the fried chicken just right. Even Southern boy Rick was happy with it. Got quite a show when a woman caught a fish, started whooping and hollering and then slipped and fell down the bank in her white skirt. The fish got away but her boyfriend yelled to everyone that it was ok, it was just a sucker fish. Must have made quite an impression because Grady re-told me all about it at bedtime.

We took the long way home so we could drive through the covered bridge there and then another one, White's Bridge near Smyrna, on the way back. Grady thought they were really cool, but seemed sure a train was supposed to be in there too - too much Thomas!

While he napped -and what a fight that was! - Rick mowed the lawn and all the trails through the Big Field and around to the skunk pile and back. The grass had gotten deep enough in the field for it to be hard for Grady to walk there, and I was worried about encroaching poison ivy on the woods' trails so he fixed all that. When Grady got up, I took Dixie for a walk and Grady rode the tractor with Rick all around and had a ball. He noticed the speed control which is just like his bubble mower - rabbit for fast, turtle for slow and got a kick out of that. We played outside until late, had leftover picnic on the deck, and watched the bats come out before heading to bed. A perfect day in Grady's world. And in ours.