A blustery day
Yesterday we enjoyed our extra day off by getting some errands done and enjoying some family time outside. The brilliant sun made a walk to the pond seem like a great idea. The temperature made it much less attractive. But walk to the pond we did – all three of us (Nathan was probably the warmest since his running is our museum shuffle…) and we played on the playground, talked to the ducks, observed white caps on the pond that pushed frozen foam to the edge of the boat ramp, and endured a pretty impressive tantrum when Daddy announced that “you know, when it’s really cold out, even the ducks go home to their heated houses – we’re going home now.”
As we walked to the pond, Nathan stopped short and got a thoughtful look on his face:
Nathan: Feef!
Mommy & Dada: What?
N: Feef!
M & D: A what?
N: A Feef!
Dada: OH, a LEAF.
N: Ja (Nathan says “yes” in German)
Mommy: Where?
N: A mi ten.
Dadda: In your mitten?
N: Ja
D: Oh, that’s not a leaf, that’s the tag in your mitten. See, Daddy’s mitten has a tag too.
N: A tahg? A Tahg.
M: No, you can’t take your mittens off.
He’s a pretty creative thinker that kid. Nathan also learned how to climb the chain ladder on the little kid play structure. I think it was taking her hands out of her mittens to get a video that finally convinced this mama that maybe we were crazy to be out playing – somehow the empty bike path and empty playground hadn’t done it. When we got home later in the evening from grocery shopping and it was dark out and the snow had started falling, Nathan asked to go back to the playground. We’re willing to endure the cold for him, but not after the sun goes down.
And that’s how we spent our extra day.