Peas and Sunshine

Yesterday, perhaps to make good on my pledge to get together with that friend of mine and her daughter more often, we took advantage of the spectacular weather for our first outdoor play date. (Let's call my friend M and her daughter A.)

M and I spoke early in the morning to arrange our outing, and by lunchtime we were spread out atop blankets beneath a towering shade tree at the city park. My primary objective, outside of visiting with M&A, was to put Henry on a swing for the first time. I was sorely disappointed when we arrived to find that the swings were not safe or designed for babies as I had hoped at least one of them would be. We improvised, but I'll get to that in a bit.

I could not have dreamed or ordered better weather. Truthfully, in Texas, weather comes in extremes; seldom do you have days where it is completely comfortable to be outdoors without either a jacket or an economy sized tub of sunscreen, SPF 200. The spring and fall seasons last only a blink or two, with scorching summer heat being the dominant climate pattern. Case in point: today, in early March, the temperature is expected to reach near 90 degrees. But, yesterday, it was the perfect day to be outdoors. There was a breeze, not so strong that we were chasing down belongings blown from our picnic blanket, but gentle, ruffling up our children's fine wisps of hair. At that time of day, the temperature hovered above 70 degrees. The mild sunshine shimmered and sprayed between the branches of our shade tree - not the harsh rays of mid to late summer sun. I could have spent the entire day there, just soaking it in.

First order of business upon arrival was to feed the babies their lunch. Henry is transitioning to more finger-foods and varieties of textures, so I brought some foods that he had refused in the day or two preceding, hoping one of these times I offer, he'll be more receptive. Of course, I also brought back-ups: pureed peas and applesauce, and after he gagged on curds of cottage cheese and spat out diced carrots, I was thankful I'd had that foresight. He sipped on white grape juice and seemed every bit as smitten by our surroundings as I was. M and A tackled lunch as well - literally. M had to almost sit on her to keep her still long enough to eat. A, being mobile, wanted to cruise around and didn't seem terribly concerned about missing lunch.

Once the babies were fed, M and I grazed on our lunches while still fussing with the kids as they tumbled around on the blanket, playing with toys and trying to reach the edges of our palette. Before long, we had each of our cameras out and were staging scenes of the babies playing together (or not.) I know I took 94 pictures myself - yes, obscene.

As we neared nap time, I decided that I would attempt to get Henry in that swing, even if it meant I would have to hold him as I sat in it. We all made our way to the playground. Now, M is about perfectly sized, and her little bum did fit in the kid swing, but barely. That, of course, meant that my larger bum would in no way fit in the kid swing. I had spotted a tire swing on the opposite end of the playground equipment, and decided that I could probably get into that swing with Henry. It was hard plastic, shaped to look like a tire, but in no way soft or allowing any give. I hiked one leg over the edge to sort of straddle it and once I tested it a little, I relaxed and we swung in short strides. It wasn't exactly the picture I'd had in mind, but we were swinging. M&A came over to see how we were managing. I tried to reposition myself so that we weren't sitting so precariously on the edge, hopefully enabling us to get a better swing going. I bent my right leg so that it was spanning the hole in the middle, creating a place for Henry to sit that wasn't on the edge. Well, that hard plastic edge dug into my leg and was quite uncomfortable - but at this point, I was stuck. I couldn't move while holding Henry, and the longer I sat there, the more uncomfortable I became. M was trying not to laugh, failing. She took Henry just long enough for me to remove myself from the swing, but not before she snapped a picture - thanks, M! We were both laughing hysterically, and when M sends me that picture, I'll post it. Maybe.

Henry and I had such a great time - I hope another beautiful day finds us back at the park again soon. Here are just a few of my pictures: