Today was my last Monday of summer. I wasn't feeling well, though, so we didn't do very much. We started off the cool morning taking it easy with a late breakfast of Life cereal, when I reminded the kids that Life is the kind of cereal Pepere likes to let sit and sit until it gets a mushy. After some lazing about at home, well I lazed and the kids gonoodled (gonoodle.com is a website with all kinds of movement based videos that encourage the kids to get some fun exercise), we ventured out to pass on the clothes Hailey has outgrown to a friend's neighbor, followed by a stop at 132nd square park where Noah got to ride his bike, making a new friend doing his favorite thing - racing. Next up, the slurpee I have promised the kids all summer (since we were camping on 7-11, free slurpee day). They both chose the lip puckering sour watermelon and I had some banana and blue raspberry, which mixed together, interestingly enough, actually tasted kinda yummy. No one could finish their small slurpee, but I still think the $3.50 was well spent. Then we stopped at the home of a Buy Nothing Round Robin to pick up some clothes for Noah. Buy Nothing is an amazing giving community on facebook where you can give away things you are all done with or don't need anymore to your neighbors... and receive in the same way! We have received a tremendous amount of awesome things as well as given away all kinds of stuff. It's an amazing thing that builds community, encourages recycling and helps decrease the clutter! After that, we came home and watched some So You Think You Can Dance (I am waaay behind this season but I had decided I wanted to watch at least some of it with the kids as I think it's worthwhile for them to be exposed to the amazing art of dance), goofed off with the keyboard, had yummy pulled pork sandwiches (homemade by Chris) and then Hailey and I went for a little walk to the local fountain to make a wish while Noah and Daddy went shopping.
Hailey and I held hands as we practiced looking both ways and listening for cars as we crossed the streets. We looked for all the crunchy leaves to crunch with our feet (a task which Hailey takes very seriously). Hailey walked along the rock path that Noah has always loves to walk along and ran around the rock circle just like Noah loves to do and up and down the ramps like Noah has always loved. Makes me realize we have lived here for 4 years now, since Noah was 2/just barely 3. He has been running up and down those ramps and making wishes in that fountain for 4 years. Always wishing, I suspect, for hot wheels tracks, just as Hailey always wishes for a kitty cat. Noah has been walking along that secret rock path, crunching leaves, and progressing from always having to hold my hand along the way to riding his bike without training wheels on the sidewalk, always taking care to stop at all the parking garage entrances and cross walks, and waiting for his mommy and his sister at all the right times. Hailey and Noah have learned about crossing the street safely on these streets, about waving thank you to the cars who stop for you, about doggie safety and stranger danger, about paying attention to your surroundings and noticing the dangers as well as the pretty little flowers and plants that come with each season, and the interesting shapes hiding on benches and in architecture, not to mention how delicious and fun it is to go out and enjoy what our local businesses have to offer - frozen yogurt at Cherry de Pom, donuts at Top Pot, hot chocolate at Starbucks... and that one time we walked over a mile one way to get a free ice cream cone at Dairy Queen. And tomorrow we get to walk out of front door to a free concert at the park, on Fridays we can walk to the Farmer's Market, many times a year we can walk to the starting line of a big 5K race, any day we can walk to the fields and blow bubbles or practice kicking a soccer ball around, have a picnic under the shade of a tree or watch the colors in the sky change at sunset over Lake Washington, we can walk to the beach and build sandcastles or splash in the water and swing on the swings and ride bikes around the paths. You know, me might not have a yard, but holy moly... we have so much more!
And suddenly, I am feeling incredibly grateful. :)
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