Spring Walks and America’s Game

On Thursday, the boys and I drove to Franklin to walk around town with Amy and Halle. We had a wonderful time drooling over things we would love to buy but can’t afford and then splurged on some ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s. It is like walking through a catalog there in Franklin. Hands on and up close ideas for projects and purchases somewhere, someday. It’s lovely to see the fabrics and the colors and the arrangements that the store owners and retailers come up with to catch your eye and draw you in. Their displays and unique pieces make it seem a shame to walk out of the store without something. This is one advantage to taking children along. They are a huge distraction and caused us to leave certain areas much quicker than we would have lingered otherwise. I saw a little restaurant that I want to find again, but can’t remember the name. It was Cocoa something…I think I’ll look online because I remember they had a website. I’m so glad Amy had the afternoon to go with us, it’s so fun to bounce likes and dislikes off of another person and we have similar ideas as to what is comfortable and appealing.

The next day, Kris had his Friday work from home day and planned to spend the morning in his office. This is hard for the boys to handle without interrupting him so I took them to the greenway in Hermitage. I asked Owen before we left if he would rather go to a park with swings and slides but he really wanted to go to the greenway. I’m so glad he did. It was beautiful weather and I took the camera and got several pictures that I like of both of them. Ivan walked a lot, I had the stroller but he really enjoyed the freedom. My only fear was a cyclist coming along and not being able to grab him out of the way in time. He did very well and Owen was a very watchful big brother as well. I think what I enjoyed most was Owen’s conversation. He continues to impress me with his understanding of things and his curiosity led to discussions on spiders and what they eat and how they catch bugs, and then to trees and different types of trees and what oak leaves look like. We talked about people too. As one elderly man passed us Owen watched him walk away and announced that he looks like Shrek. I am certain the man did not hear, but I began explaining how that might hurt someone’s feelings. He later was able to tell his dad after a little coaching that if we think something nice we can say it but if we think something bad…we don’t need to say it. We also talked about lying and how saying something as simple as “oh, yeah, I see it.” when in fact he didn’t see it, is a lie. There was a lot more to the conversations but I could type for a long time about a two hour walk with a three year old. It totally made me think about Amy’s post recently about taking walks with her girls. They were both very fun to be with and the people who stopped and talked with them and made them laugh and smile were just icing on the cake.

Last night after naps we drove downtown and met Becky and her kids. They had an appointment at Vanderbilt and I had asked her if she could take Ivan over night so that the rest of our clan could enjoy a baseball game at Greer Stadium. It worked out nicely that she had to be in the area anyway at the same time that we needed to be getting to the game. On the way Owen let me know that he did not like the idea of leaving Ivan and even at the game when I asked him if he enjoyed having mommy and daddy all to himself, he said he wanted Ivan too. It was sweet to hear and though they certainly do their share of picking at one another they have become quite connected. Sharing a room has been fun for them and they each have a hard time getting to sleep when the other isn’t there. This morning we drove to the church to pick Ivan up. Becky had to be there at 9:00 a.m. so that worked out well again and saved us from having to drive up to Greenbrier to get him.

At the baseball game Owen was still and became quite absorbed as we watched the sounds get defeated 6 to 4 last night. He took in a lot of information and I am interested to see how well he remembers the rules of baseball after last nights lesson. He has mostly talked about the broken bat that we saw toward the end of the game. There were kids all around us and of course that was entertaining for him also, he loves to watch bigger boys interact and the food and the smells and the music and all the between inning games were enough to keep him very occupied all evening. It was late by the time the game was over but he was not ready to sleep and insisted he was not even tired. We watched the fireworks display after the game and he really seemed to enjoy that as well. It is not the first time he has seen fireworks or been to a baseball game but it was certainly the first time he took so much interest. Kris and I enjoyed him as much as the cool weather, relaxation and of course the game. His questions, his wonder and his affection made for a great evening with a three year old boy.