Monday, September 15, 2008

Outdoor Ed: Monday

Today's activity for Outdoor Ed is the equivalent (in terms of effort made) of those days in grade school when your teacher showed a film strip. Lame. But the good news is, my kids were none the wiser. We went--get ready for this--to the park. But to gussy the thing up a bit, we went to a park 2 miles away (not the one close to our house!) and we drove there with our bikes in the back of the Suburban. I also took pains to prepare 2 Ziplocs full of popcorn (buttered!) and a water bottle full of nutritious water (plastic flavor!) for our snacking enjoyment. Boy, did we have a blast for the better part of an hour and 40 minutes.

*I should probably just go ahead and admit here that I am not really an outdoorsy person, in that I don't really enjoy being out-of-doors. I prefer more of the lounging arts--really anything that can be accomplished in my (new!) Target squirrel pajamas. I resent having to get "dressed up" for things like going to the park, etc.

Just moments after we had unloaded all the bikes, and the helmets, and the popcorn, all the kids took off on their bikes on the path that runs around the perimeter of the park. Sadly, Josie had a minor crash (crybaby) that resulted in lots of general cursing, not cussing, of her bike and the sidewalk. She sulked long enough for me to try and take her picture (she wasn't having it) and to scarf down her sorrows in some popcorn. Then it was off for adventure at the playground!

Angry.

Teetering.

Unauthorized climbing.

Horseplay.

A roly-poly during the most terrifying moments of it's life. (I would like to point out here the Hawaiian shorts and light-up fire truck shirt that Tommy is wearing. I enjoy dressing my little folk (and I did pick out this winning ensemble) because I feel free to mix it up. People are going to assume he dressed himself anyway, so why not take advantage of that?)

This is a picture of two children on bikes. I know you cannot really see them, so you must take my word for it. Jon cozied up to no less than two ladies at the park, one of which was (I swear) 4 years old. The other, Macy, is a fellow second grader recognized from the bus and Jon was putting serious moves on her. They went for a few romantic turns around the park on their bikes, serenaded by the ever-socially-mature Josie and that charming little ditty "Jon and Macy, sitting in a tree....." which Josie cleverly rewrote as "Jon and Macy, riding on bikes....." She sought me out to inform me that Jon was having a love story and that he was on a date. Poor Jon, my little Casanova Frankenstein.

Tommy also had a crash, but got right back up on that horse. Is his little bike adorable or what?

So I promise that tomorrow's outdoor ed will be much more thought out and educationally enriching. Or, you know, whatever.

3 comments:

rebecca said...

Where's Sid? Your little Casanova cracks me up! I can't remember if it was Jon or Calvin who was talking Grace's ear off at your house, but I have never seen a boy so attentive...he's going to have girls doodling in their notebooks over him. He should exemplify attentiveness for the marriage prep class at church.

My Five Little Monkeys said...

Becca, Sid is at Middle School and doesn't "get" to participate. And I'd bet any amount of money that it was Jon talking little Grace's ear off. Calvin is sweet but not really determined to win the hearts of all the fair maidens. But Jon.....he is working on learning to play the guitar. For the wooing, you know.

Adrienne said...

Oh Tommy does look every inch a toddler stud on his bike with his training wheels. And as for your little Casanova F. ("Yes, yes, zat eez da passion", I've got his woman! She just turned 8, so a tad older, but I think he'd like a cougar, don't you? It's my friend Amanda's girl, who after her first day at school, said she had a boyfriend and was in love, love at first sight, no less. Amanda said most certainly NOT, there was no way, and he could just be a good friend, and Erika said, "Well I won't say it, but it doesn't mean that it isn't true." Ah, the course of true love never did run smooth.