Drive-by Activity-ing

After speech therapy, several attempts at running errands went awry. Bastian was in a mood to run off and not cooperate and my patience was worn thin. At our second store, Aleks had to pee, which involved a walk through the rain and into a mall.

After a bathroom break, we stopped in a gallery where almost everything was made of glass and cost no less than $5,000. My favorite piece was $25,000, which is when I first noticed the prices. There were Dale Chihuly originals, so that really should have clued me in, but no - what did it was being in a very small winding room filled with floor to ceiling shelves, all made of glass with glass sculptures on them, steering two small children and then noting that the medicine jar I liked was 25 grand. I then took a closer look at the other cards and noted similar prices - $12,000, $6,000, $21,740... AAAAAH! We tried to get out gracefully, but not before Aleks touched a fabric piece hanging on a wall in front of everyone while I was telling him not to touch it. My patience wore thinner.

We ended up leaving another store after Bastian couldn't handle it further and I drove towards home feeling guilty that things didn't turn out the way I'd wanted. I knew I was recovering from being ill and was therefor sort of tired, but I also knew that since I'd been ill, we'd been at home a lot and should therefor use this time out to do something fun. I had brought along some spelt bread that was too crumbly in my freezer, thinking we'd find some ducks or seagulls to feed, so we stopped at Shaker Lakes to see if the ducks were out. There were no ducks, but a lake full of giant coy to feed, swarming near the bridge.There was also a goose couple that eyed our bread. I insisted that we throw them a couple of pieces to keep them far away from us, knowing that geese will bite very hard if frightened or threatened. I warned the boys to stay far, far away over and over. I am far more wary of geese than I am of dogs, it would seem.
He had a beak full of crumbs.
The lake lets out via waterfall to a lovely brook with idyllic scenery.
From the second bridge, in the setting early evening light, it's even more idyllic. Which I would have enjoyed more were I not all irritated about geese poop and running off and getting too close to the water. So we headed home without the focus of having done. We were drive-by activity-ing all day long.
After dinner, Papa showed me where the new seedlings went and the boys came out to play in the garden.
I love that the dirt is all different colors. It looks weirdly intentional.
Papa bought me a gnome. He collects shiny things. He doesn't have much more than a piece of foil at the moment, however.
One of the neighbor's garages is busting at the seams.
A rock.
Papa dug up this blade (among sooo many other things). Now it's a nice, slightly terrifying decoration on the fence.
Just beyond the fence is the gorgeous backyard of a nearby neighbor. I covet their landscaping skills. And their Bodhisattva.
Aleks used the rock as a bomb. It was scary.
Bastian dug in the mud, which is mostly clay. This was just the beginning, it got so much worse and required lots of scrubbing after.



In the end, the day worked well enough, despite the frustrations and bad words spewed. The boys roll with it and dig in dirt and prove to me that the apparent value of an activity doesn't really matter because they always just add their own.