A walk around the block

Oh my precious children, what a precious day. The breeze is blowing, ever so slightly - the air is cool, not hot - the sun is bright - the sky is blue - - and this makes for perfect walking weather. So we packed up baby James in the stroller, put on our walking shoes - and headed out the door.

First along our adventure, we briefly said "HI" to Blain, one of our little boy neighbors that we all adore. We walked by Malyn's house, and commented about how we wish she hadn't moved in with her mom, so far away. Now, we hardly see her. Maybe she will be around more this summer.

So then conversation turned towards fire hydrants and why some have green tops and why some are red and some are yellow. Part of the sidewalk curved around to make room for a fire hydrant, and this was quite fascinating to Thomas.

William - I loved the way you walked so close to me, hanging onto the stroller. You are such a good big brother and you love James so much.

James - well, it is obvious that you just love being outside! You were sitting up straight, almost leaning forward - looking at anything and everything. William just stayed close to us, walking by our side. And James - you just kept clapping your hands. One of your new favorite tricks.

Thomas, on the other hand - you are wild. You run way far ahead - and then see something interesting, pick it up, steal a rock, break a stick or chase a cat - and end up lagging behind. You are never by my side. Of course; you also love to stop right in front of the stroller and nearly get hit sometimes.

Victoria, my sweet observant child - and good conversationalist ... (Did I spell that right?) ... you like to look at the yards and their landscaping, and talk about fences and trees and flowers. You talk about bricks on the houses and you love to ask a lot of of questions. Don't ever stop, please.

And then we saw one of our friends from Church driving by. Danel stopped by to say Hi, she had been at a phone store - trying to get a new phone. She doesn't live far from us - and we should make time to visit with her more often. She has four children, just like me.

Oh - and then we had some noisy trucks along our path. It seems someone was installing an in-ground pool and these trucks were running all sorts of hoses and digging equipment and making quite a mess. Thomas, you just kept holding your ears and saying "those trucks are too loud". William, you proceeded to tell me that you felt sure we needed a pool in our own backyard because then we'd never have to give the dogs water again. Yikes, I don't think so. Victoria proceeded to simply question how expensive something like that is. My observant daughter commented that such an undertaking cannot be cheap. (and yes, Victoria, you're right, it's not)

So, thank you kids - for walking with me and talking with me. I always love walking arouond the block with you all. You just never know what we'll find, who we'll see or what can be discovered.