The kids were a little disappointed in the way the day had unfolded. And gee, I'll own up to it -- I was a little disappointed, too. Just before leaving, though, we found a small playground area -- and suddenly the forty-five minute drive was all worth it. The kids loved this ... this ... (look closely)
OK, there's a close-up of Nicole, but look at what's surrounding her. It's not a sandbox, but a box full of dried peas. These must have been the rejects for the split pea soup. Either that or this is their year supply for the on-site restaurant. (Eew, gross; but you know, it's not half as bad as those Chinese restaurants that breed their own rats in the basement and serve them up as cheap chicken. Ugh, now that's disgusting. Uh, I think I've lost sight of the goal. Back to the pea box -- which, by the way, is not to be confused with the pe* box, although I'm sure there's no shortage of that in there either. But now that we're on the subject, the concept kind of reminds me of those plastic ball arenas that McDonald's used to have. Must have gotten rid of them for a reason other than the balls kept disappearing. Just something to think about when you're not thinking about how cool of an idea this dried pea box is!) The kids played in here for at least an hour. OK, not so sure about the exact amount of time, but suffice it to say that it was a long time.
So long that, at one point, Nicole's entire body (minus the head, of course -- a kid has to breathe, you know) was buried and resurrected. (Just keep your head up, Honey.)
In this photo, Nicole was trying to split the pea open. She wants to know what's inside of everything and how everything works. Recently, she also asked me to split open a popcorn kernel. We did that with a hammer, and to my astonishment, I found the experiment just as cool as Nicole did. As for the split pea, not near as interesting as the split kernel.
Eventually the kids moved on from the pea box and found a homemade train that's pulled by a tractor. There were plenty of farmers around, but none of them like kids (or something like that), so the kids had to find their own entertainment. No problem for Grant. That kid is a walking circus. Ah, I just had an epiphany: when Grant grows up, he can make a living by doing a street show in Europe. The Dick van Dyke from Mary Poppins. (I love that opening scene where he's singing his rhymes and simultaneously playing instruments with different body parts; makes me feel like taking a long plane ride to London, and there aren't many things that make me want to do that. For example, if I think about my plane trip to Florida with the kids last March, that makes me NOT want to fly to London.) Europe still has those guys, but I think they're mostly homeless. Or maybe they want you to think they're homeless so you'll give them bigger tips. Scandalous. Maybe that career won't work after all, but for a fleeting moment, it wasn't a bad idea. Think of the places he could see ... But then again, I suppose if you're homeless, the places would less likely include the inside of Le Louvre and more likely the inside of a hostel where your jewelry gets stolen while you sleep (think Curly Sue). So, here's Grant inventing fun on the farm in Washington, not Europe.
Nicole found this toy, and Grant jealously watched while Nicole swung with a stranger girl. Grant was too shy to yell at the girl to get off, but as soon as she left, Grant willingly took her spot. One day Scotty will get to join in the fun -- really join, not just observe from the sidelines (although that's what I do and I think it's every bit as fun as playing). Scotty misses out on all sorts of things. Just today I overheard Nicole tell him, "Scotty, pretty soon you'll be big enough to have candy, too. But right now, it's just for Sister. Hey, Scotty, want your bottle?"
And thus ended the last weekend with Clint unemployed.
