Saturday Here in the Park

Adelaide has begun talking quite a bit in the past few weeks. Her favorite words, up to now, have been "Mommy Mommy Mommy," "doot," and "Tat du" (thank you). Recently, she's begun expanding her vocabulary, which now includes "Buh-booooooo," "dirt," "duice," and "DadDAD!" She's never said "Dada," but always seems to use an exclamation when she says it, maybe because she's always so happy to see Jesse. It's cute... "DadDAD!" she yells when he comes home from work or when he gets her up from her nap. Love it. I also love the way she puts her little head down on my shoulder when she's tired or just wants a good snuggle... I don't remember the other two doing that, and I just eat it up!

Last week we went to this cool safari park place where you could drive through a big enclosure full of deer, moose, buffalo, giraffes, zebras, etc. It was an experience! Sadie and Jesse were fearless, letting the animals stick their heads RIGHT INTO THE CAR and eat from their cups of carrots and grain. Josie and I took a different route...dodging, yelling, hiding, and trying to keep the windows rolled up. It was a little scary, especially when a big old moose grabbed my cup of oats and ran away with it. Well! I wasn't going after him! Adelaide was in the back with Grammie, and she was a little scared at first (Adelaide, not my mom :) but then she got all excited and REALLY liked it when the giraffe stuck his head in. I have to admit that was pretty cool. At one point Jesse had TWO buffalos' heads stuck in his car window at the same time, not to mention disgusting buffalo slobber and other drainage smeared all over the windows and the rest of the car. Ick.

Yesterday we had a Saturday when we actually had nothing to do. It was a gift! Usually there are people to see and places to go; you know how it is. Yesterday, though, Jesse's & Sadie's fishing plans fell through and so we had the whole day off together. Jesse slept late (I tried, but it just didn't work out), the kids got to watch 2 cartoons instead of their usual one, we made pancake men and turkey bacon for breakfast, goofed around the house for a while, then went to ride our bikes at the park. We took a picnic and Josie's owl kite and it was a gorgeous day... I seriously had to use serious leg muscles while trying to pull my two younger children in the bike trailer, though. I think they've both hit a growth spurt, because it felt like I was trying to haul two buffalos behind me or something. Sheesh. Sadie stomped around in the river a while, and Josie pushed Adelaide in the baby swing... it was just a nice day. Then Grandma picked Josie up for her special "Josie Night" with Grandma and Grandpa (she got to eat at Cracker Barrel, get a giant sucker, watch Tarzan, and take a bath ALL BY HERSELF), and Sadie and Adelaide went with me and Jesse to a little festival where Sadie played a fishing game (with real fishing poles and real fish) and caught the biggest fish they'd had all day. Everyone applauded for her!

I found out today that when Sadie went to Illinois last weekend with Grandma, Aunt Lyd, and Teagan, she was an excellent cousin, traveler, and example. I was so proud! Aunt Lydia told me how Sadie shared and shared without complaining (she had a backpack full of snacks and activities for the 8 hour trip) and was very kind and loving to Teagan... except for the end when she said, "Hey, why don't you eat some of your own snacks?" But, it WAS an 8 hour ride; no one is perfect. Her Grandma told me that the girls had a little tiff and Teagan spluttered in Sadie's face because she was mad. Later Grandma found a distraught Teagan sobbing alone in the bedroom. When asked what was the matter, Teagan confessed that she had spit at Sadie and that she wanted to apologize. When she hugged her and fell against Sadie's chest, crying and saying she was sorry, Sadie very graciously said, "That's okay. Want a piggy-back ride?" What a forgiving spirit! I'm proud of both of them for acting so kindly toward each other. Ahh... the love of cousins. I don't know what I'd do without mine!