This past weekend was a rare one for our family -- we were in town the whole weekend and had no prior engagements. We go out of town a lot and even if we're here, there's usually a reason.
What was even more amazing was that our friends C and G and their two boys also were in town. So we checked with friends D and S, who have a son, too, and they were here as well. So we planned a little outing to the beach.
C and G, their boys, and Keith, Autumn and I bought subs and ate on our beach towels. Although D and S had something earlier, they met up with the rest of us before too long. The kids played in the sand and the water, some getting more fun of sand than the others.
Afterward, we checked out the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, which was interesting, but definitely geared toward older people. We had thought it was going to be more hands-on for the kids, but now we know. The other thing that really made me nervous was that the railing on the second-story walkways doesn't meet the floor. There's a gap of a few inches, which made me picture Autumn's body going through and her dangling above the floor with her head stuck between the railing and the walkway. I pictured this, and the possibility of her broken neck, as she ran around a little bit. Needless to say, it wasn't long before she was up on Daddy's shoulders, making Mommy relax quite a bit. Obviously, whoever designed that building doesn't have young children. When I mentioned this gap and my fear, D said she also thought of it for her 1-year-old son, who was at that time, I believe, in his Daddy's arms. Kids are wobbly and clumsy and curious. We shouldn't leave open any possiblity that they could become seriously injured.
So we left to go get ice cream at Saras. That night Keith and I shared our cones with Autumn and she had more ice cream that night than she's had in the past year. We'd have her hold out her tongue for a lick of the soft-serve cones. Once when we were slow, she ran over to C and held her tongue out for her. Another time, she saw a random stranger with an ice-cream cone and she held her tongue out for that person. Have no fear, though, she only got ice cream from Keith and I. But it seems to me that she's going to remember that and will want ice cream again. I suppose that's why I usually have my ice cream after she goes to bed.
All of this just makes me realize that a simple outing of subs at the beach and an ice cream cone nearby can provide just as much fun as a complicated outing that we spend hours and hours planning. Go figure.