John (in jest): "Yeah, maybe he'll be a professional musician one day."
Daniel, takes a moment to consider: "Then maybe I'll be a professional talker. 'Cuz I sure do LOVE to talk!"
Yes, yes you do. Case in point, yesterday at the Hawkeye Spring Game (intra-squad scrimmage; admission price was a can of food for the local food bank) we had not been in our seats for 5 minutes before I turned to Daniel with an exasperated, "Daniel! How many questions do you think I can answer? I should be counting them to see how many!"
Daniel, in response, with zero irony: "How many has it been?"
A-freakin'-LOT!
In his defense, it was a little confusing to watch the Hawkeyes play the Hawkeyes. And they had a kind of wacky scoring system so that the defense had a chance to get some points on the board. All in all, it was a lovely day to be outside, the boys got closer to the field at Kinnick Stadium than they'll ever be again, and John and I earned another year of "No WAY are we paying to take you to a game when you can't even pay attention for 10 minutes."
Later in the day, the boys and I took a bike ride and ended up running into some friends headed in the opposite direction. We turned around and went with them to their destination park and the boys all had fun playing together (these are friends with boys the same ages as ours; the younger is in preschool with Daniel.) The allure of the creek was strong and despite being told three times not to go in, Daniel and Drew ended up with full mud immersion. I do try to be patient about the love of mud, and I was much more calm about this one than the first thaw mud experience this spring which necessitated washing all the winter outerwear on an already busy evening.
However, I did tell Daniel that if he wants to play in the mud we have to be better prepared with the right gear--e.g. boots or water shoes. I was particularly dismayed at the mud-covered brand-new (three weeks) tennis shoes.
Later in the day, the boys and I took a bike ride and ended up running into some friends headed in the opposite direction. We turned around and went with them to their destination park and the boys all had fun playing together (these are friends with boys the same ages as ours; the younger is in preschool with Daniel.) The allure of the creek was strong and despite being told three times not to go in, Daniel and Drew ended up with full mud immersion. I do try to be patient about the love of mud, and I was much more calm about this one than the first thaw mud experience this spring which necessitated washing all the winter outerwear on an already busy evening.
However, I did tell Daniel that if he wants to play in the mud we have to be better prepared with the right gear--e.g. boots or water shoes. I was particularly dismayed at the mud-covered brand-new (three weeks) tennis shoes.
Fortunately, after a dip in this bucket, the uppers were mostly mud-free. However, we're pretty sure that every time they get even remotely wet (dewy grass, rainy day, etc.) the mud will ooze from the bottom resulting in black socks. Oh, well. Daniel himself stripped to underwear behind our front bushes, washed his hands and feet in the bucket and then went straight to the shower.
And for a bit of equal time, here is Edward with his quint-plane--five paper airplanes all attached together. It will come as a surprise to no one (except its creator) that this plane did not fly far. But there was joy in its creation and that of the dozens of other planes flying around our back yard this afternoon. Two fabulous spring days in a row on a weekend. What a gift!
Time for dinner and then a bike ride for ice cream. We know enough to enjoy it while we can. By the end of the week it's back to 50s and rain.
