June Deliveries

After Madeline experienced a disappointing birthday last year, in which I put in lots of work, Ryan and gave Madeline a list of 5 ways we could celebrate her birthday.   We are trying to instill in our children a love of nature, and a connection to the earth on which they live and from which we subsist.   By virtue of these priorities, and also the logistics keeping safe Wild Man Sam and his co-conspirator, the new Chuckie Cheese was out.

I was very pleased with our solution, 5 outdoor options that included either a picnic or homemade ice cream, all of them manageable from my point of view.  She decided she wanted to go fishing and have a picnic at our near-by state park.

Sam and Max learned from our recent camping trips how to wield sticks as guns and battle each others, and they had plenty of ammunition.  Between throwing rocks in the water and yelling, they scared all the fish away.  I finally took them to the sandy swim area, and they waded in the water, while Ryan taught Madeline and Ella the basics of fishing.  Even with us gone, they managed to not hook a single fish. 

We all enjoyed walking on the trails, crossing the creeks, looking through the woods for new birds to put on our bird list, and picking wildflower bouquets.

We brought cotton candy, smores and hotdogs to grill after we fished.  We also brought rocket balloons, which provided endless satisfaction for all the kids.  We hated to go home because everything was purely satisfactory:  the weather, the peace of the outdoors, the kids, the companionship. Nothing necessitated us leaving: temper tantrums, poopy underwear accidents, rain or cold, other commitments. 

We told Madeline about the famous car chase that happened to happen in Heber the one day she was born, and that happened to shut down the one road that went to the hospital, and how the Corolla almost became a windowless car, as I thought about kicking out the windows as we tried to get to the hospital.  What a pleasure it has been to have her in our lives for 8 years.  

She enjoyed her birthday celebration even though she didn't catch any fish and even though we didn't have a friends party (which she likes because she gets more birthday presents).  She really liked her yo-yo and the money that she received for her birthday, which enabled her to go to a horse camp.