Duck

On Saturday we took the girls to one of their favorite parks. It was a beautiful day and we picked out the perfect spot for lunch. We set out our food and talked about how lucky we were to get such a great picnic table under beautiful shade trees. Didn’t take us long to realize why such a perfect spot was so readily available. Those beautiful shade trees contained baseball sized walnuts that fell every time the wind blew. We’re talking, conk-you-on-the-head-and-knock-you-unconscious-sized walnuts. Really, I believe they could have caused brain damage (I’m not kidding) and so we picked up the wee small children (covering their fragile little heads, of course) and moved to a less perfect, but much safer, picnic location.

A funny side note: We watched our friend Shawn play baseball last week and there were a few foul balls hit in our direction. The first time it happened, Steve and I immediately covered our heads, leaving the girls unprotected. We laughed about it later, and wondered why our parental instincts didn’t kick in… must be something wrong with us. I’m sure we were quite the site, ducking for cover while our two small children were free to get smacked in the head with a baseball. I’m waiting for child protective services to knock on the door.

Speaking of "ducking" (how'd you like that transition...), after eating lunch and tearing it up on the playground, we ventured over to feed the ducks. Last year when we fed the ducks, Ellie just sat in her stroller and watched. It was kind of nice and peaceful. I guess I just expected that she would be content to do that again this year. Not exactly…here’s how it went down.

"Really, mom, are you kidding me? You want me to sit here and watch Kate have all the fun?"


"At least give me a piece of bread, and push me closer. I’ll throw it from here."

"Ahhh, freedom...now that's better."

"Okay, so what's the deal? We just tear the bread and throw it? I think I got it, dad."

"Hey, stop that duck...he's eating my bread."

"Eat this, buddy."

"Yum...think I'll have a little more."

"Yeah...that was so good I gotta lick my fingers."

"Can you believe the nerve of that duck...trying to eat my food?"

The good news is that we didn't have any old, moldy bread, so at least she was eating fresh, whole wheat bread. There's always a bright side to everything!

Speaking of bright side... Kate just loved the ducks and she's finally big enough to tear the bread and throw it by herself. It was so fun to watch her.

I hope your weekend was as fun and eventful as ours. We jam-packed the weekend. Next topic of discussion...our movie night experience. But that post will have to wait. Happy Monday!