Picnic

The kids and I went for a picnic yesterday as both of them were off from school. We took a shelter, blanket, one folding kiddie chair, and a cooler full of food (i.e. sandwiches, chips, crackers, Skittles, and drinks.)

We spent several hours at one of the local Forest Preserves and, after lunch, the kids played on the jungle gym. Once they had finished the first round on the playground they came back to eat some more and have some water and Gatorade before running off to play some more.

There was a finch playing right above our shelter and the kids decided to name him Mr. Peepers because he was constantly peeping at us. We must have watched him hop from branch to branch for 20 minutes. Once in a while, he'd drop down to the ground, pick up some crumbs, and jump right back up into the tree.

We encountered some rain during the afternoon and the shelter held up just fine. The other parents at the playground were impressed with our level of preparedness and several commented on how "neat" and "cool" the shelter was. During the drizzle the kids and I would just huddle inside the shelter and talk about how great it was to be eating outdoors and just being outdoors. I suspect they enjoy it as much as I do.

Laura and Jake have both asked me if we could do this again and, as they have next Monday off as well, I suspect we'll be back in the woods with a picnic lunch soon.

Thanks for reading,

B