Bear Mountain Park or Of Course I'm Running Late
Last month gwnievere and I were chatting on fb and inviting our kids to each other's birthday parties. Our schedules did not align but the genesis for yesterday did!
Why not go to Bear Mountain! With the kids and friends and food? And so we did. I had planned to bring deviled eggs, some cookies and the cupcakes seorgia had made. I meant to start them all Friday night.
Then I meant to start them Saturday in the wee hours of the morning.
I ended up starting them at 8:30 for a picnic we were supposed to go to at 10:00. yah, we ended up late. Then even more late when I realized we'd left the eggs in the fridge at home. Driving back to the house I texted 11th_letter that we'd forgotten them and could a small child bring them out to the parking space for us?
There was no small child waiting and Jeff went into the house to fetch them. Inside, Jack (who'd elected to stay home and play with his visiting cousin) said he would have, but couldn't find them in the fridge. Jeff calmly walked to the fridge, opened the door and said "You mean these eggs, right here in the front, dead center of the refrigerator?"
Without missing a beat, Jack says "Those weren't there."
I wish I could just convey to you the sparkling humor and dead pan delivery that kid has. We laughed the whole way over the mountain to the park on that one and I wasn't even in the house to hear it!
We arrived, albeit eventually, and settled in for a grand time. We ate, walked to the zoo, got too thirsty from the walk to the zoo, sat and hydrated, took many, many, many pictures and generally had a fabulous time.
There was even an escaped ball scenario that did not end in the disaster of said ball falling down a cliff in the Hudson Highlands to be gone forever. But somehow, Gwen and Nina managed to lose the ball down the pathway, down a hill and OVER 9W! It rested by the road barriers and gwnievere played the part of Super Mom!!! and rescued the ball. Afterwards it was highly encouraged that said ball be played with on the other side of the path, by the lake. The girls opted for a game of Uno instead. Wise decision!
There was one parent fail. We kept promising the kids we'd take them to merry go round. I thought it would be a good thing to do on the way out. Little did we know that the damned thing closed at 5. We left at 6.
I had a very upset Charlie who gave me his standard "The only thing that will make me happy is McDonalds." No, he didn't get McDonalds.
Tho I will interject here that while he's growing up and all is fabulous, I have a small sadness. He used to call it "The French Fry Store" before he knew it's name. Mommy-weep-time.
But all was good. We came home and shoved food into them. Dinner was delicious and we didn't miss the friends coming to whisk Celia away for their daughter's birthday weekend.
The final crown on a rather awesome day was as the uber hyper children were getting into bed. Jack and Charlie were playing in their room and the following conversation was heard:
Jack, "I'm dead!"
Charlie, "Okay, now I give you the pill to bring you back."
*mimes giving him a pill*
Jack, "Charlie you have to make me chew."
Charlie, "I have the pepper here!"
Jack, "No, Charlie, 'Chew,' not 'Achoo!'"
I'm still laughing over that one. A lot.
Why not go to Bear Mountain! With the kids and friends and food? And so we did. I had planned to bring deviled eggs, some cookies and the cupcakes seorgia had made. I meant to start them all Friday night.
Then I meant to start them Saturday in the wee hours of the morning.
I ended up starting them at 8:30 for a picnic we were supposed to go to at 10:00. yah, we ended up late. Then even more late when I realized we'd left the eggs in the fridge at home. Driving back to the house I texted 11th_letter that we'd forgotten them and could a small child bring them out to the parking space for us?
There was no small child waiting and Jeff went into the house to fetch them. Inside, Jack (who'd elected to stay home and play with his visiting cousin) said he would have, but couldn't find them in the fridge. Jeff calmly walked to the fridge, opened the door and said "You mean these eggs, right here in the front, dead center of the refrigerator?"
Without missing a beat, Jack says "Those weren't there."
I wish I could just convey to you the sparkling humor and dead pan delivery that kid has. We laughed the whole way over the mountain to the park on that one and I wasn't even in the house to hear it!
We arrived, albeit eventually, and settled in for a grand time. We ate, walked to the zoo, got too thirsty from the walk to the zoo, sat and hydrated, took many, many, many pictures and generally had a fabulous time.
There was even an escaped ball scenario that did not end in the disaster of said ball falling down a cliff in the Hudson Highlands to be gone forever. But somehow, Gwen and Nina managed to lose the ball down the pathway, down a hill and OVER 9W! It rested by the road barriers and gwnievere played the part of Super Mom!!! and rescued the ball. Afterwards it was highly encouraged that said ball be played with on the other side of the path, by the lake. The girls opted for a game of Uno instead. Wise decision!
There was one parent fail. We kept promising the kids we'd take them to merry go round. I thought it would be a good thing to do on the way out. Little did we know that the damned thing closed at 5. We left at 6.
I had a very upset Charlie who gave me his standard "The only thing that will make me happy is McDonalds." No, he didn't get McDonalds.
Tho I will interject here that while he's growing up and all is fabulous, I have a small sadness. He used to call it "The French Fry Store" before he knew it's name. Mommy-weep-time.
But all was good. We came home and shoved food into them. Dinner was delicious and we didn't miss the friends coming to whisk Celia away for their daughter's birthday weekend.
The final crown on a rather awesome day was as the uber hyper children were getting into bed. Jack and Charlie were playing in their room and the following conversation was heard:
Jack, "I'm dead!"
Charlie, "Okay, now I give you the pill to bring you back."
*mimes giving him a pill*
Jack, "Charlie you have to make me chew."
Charlie, "I have the pepper here!"
Jack, "No, Charlie, 'Chew,' not 'Achoo!'"
I'm still laughing over that one. A lot.