Sunday, March 28, 2010

Our Day with Max and The Magical Forest

I've mentioned before that on the weekends our super troop of six gets cut down to three when my three daughters head off into the sunset with their Daddy for three whole days.

This Friday night and Saturday, however, we were graced with Maxine Jane's presence. Her sisters and dad had lots of soccer related things to do and they thought she might be a 'handful'.

Your loss Dudes.

Jeremiah and I were in awe of the lovely and awesome Maxine we got to have all this extra time with. She's always pretty darn cool, but it's seems like Jeremiah doesn't have all that much time with her one on one. Usually he spends a lot more time with the older two, doing homework and piano lessons.

We told her Friday night at bedtime that we were meeting Jeremiah's Mum at a nearby State Park for bike riding.

She lit up, beaming with excitement and joy. She also didn't really know what the State Park was, even though she's been there several times, so I spent an extra half hour into bedtime explaining it to her. Finally I came up with this:

"It's like a giant forest, with water all around...a lake, with tiny creeks and ponds that run all through the forest."

"Hmmm. Mom, that sounds like something in Shrek."

"Well...I guess it is sort of like the forests in Shrek. We'll have to keep our eyes our for magical creatures."

"We'll probably just see chipmunks and bears....and we can chase them. And maybe if they are nice, and we are nice...we can pet them and then bring them home and I'll make a little box, like the zhu zhu pet's box."

"How would you put a bear in a box, Max?"

"THE CHIPMUNK MOMMA! I WAS TALKING ABOUT a chipmunk...the bear would have to live under the tree in our backyard. But he couldn't ride in the car? Hmm. He'd probably just follow us home and look in our windows so he could be all part of our familyyyy."

Great. Bears looking in the windows. Delightful.

Our day was wonderful Max and Elijah took a nap during the ride there. They looked like angels:


We rode for awhile and stopped for pretzels and stone skipping:





The biggest beach on the lake and a large playground is at the end of the trail. It was a pretty chilly day and it was windy on the beach. Well worth hanging out there to see the kids so happy. Elijah is like a little mud puddle magnet, but he totally and completely stayed out of the lake. Weird.



The only disappointing thing about this amazing day was last night while flipping through the photos I realized that the magic forest didn't work any spells on my crooked teeth. Oh well, I still get the hot guy, despite the non-magical dental work:

11 comments:

Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein said...

Dang it. You're all sooooo cute! Even Jeremiah.

miss. chief said...

AAAAW I think I love you guys! haha

Tina H said...

Wonderful pictures!! Glad your family had a great day!!

Kim said...

Days like that are the best. Good thing I married an outdoorsy guy 'cause I'd never go camping/hiking/ kayaking on my own. Give me a book, tv and computer and I'm good.

Bethany said...

how fun! great photos. Love your energy and enthusiasm and love for your kids, J's too. That was just too sweet. And I loved your convo with Max.
And I still think your teeth are super cute.

steveroni said...

...and you enjoyed your day "to the Max"...I loved your family-type post.

PEACE!

John Pender said...

Looks like a lot of fun!

Alyson said...

You have such a beautiful family. Love your pictures, as always.

Tony said...

Your family is awesome! That is all.

Angela Christensen said...

I wouldn't change one thing: you got the hot guy, and you have the charming smile AND those gorgeous kids. Loved this post.
Love, love.

PS I hope they liked the dog post. I've gotten PHONE CALLS about that post. ;)

mylittlebecky said...

yeah, i'd say that's pretty magical :)