Today, I had some things I needed to take care of around the house before we could go anywhere. We had the opportunity to go to our weekly play group or possibly story time at the library. But when I finished my tasks at 10:25 and Aria was still in her pajamas, neither were an option. She was tired of me ignoring her so I decided to grant whatever play wish she came up with. She told me she wanted to explore for penguins. This is a common theme in our house these days. She likes to explore like the Wild Animal Babies in the movies she got for Christmas. I assumed we would travel around the house with our explore-a-gear and search for fantasy penguins. But once I said we could explore, Aria started to put on her snow pants. Of course we would need to go outside in the snow to explore penguins! As we were getting dressed, I asked her if she wanted to play in the snow at our house or go somewhere where we could sled down a hill, too. She was all for the sledding!
So, it was by completely random chance that we headed out to Thomas park today. I figured we needed to get in every snow playing chance we had because the forecast calls for melting in our near future. We got all geared up, loaded up the dog and the sled and took off. When we arrived, we had the whole place to ourselves. And it was just beautiful outside. It was about 32 degrees, the sun was shining and there was no wind. The day could not have been more perfect. We tested out the hill on the sled together first. Then, Aria did this...
After several times down the hill with Augie chasing us, we ventured over to a bridge that crosses a creek. The water was flowing around some ice. It was there I had my moment. We were pretending to spot penguins, dolphins, turtles, fish, and other sea creatures. All of a sudden, I realized I won't have very many moments like that one. We went to a park to sled and explore on a Wednesday morning in perfect winter weather. A lot of time it is too cold or windy to be out in the snow. The snow will melt soon. We had the place to ourselves so our dog could roam freely with us. In two and a half years, Aria will be in school on quiet, perfect winter, Wednesday mornings. It made me briefly sad, but I know there will be new adventures I will love once she starts school. I was just so thankful I have the time to spend with Aria now and that today I stopped what I was doing and took advantage of a beautiful day. We had so much fun! It is days like today that define why I am a stay at home mom.
After Augie dropped her ball in the creek, we had to head back over to the sledding hill to keep her from diving in after it. We played in the snow, found walking sticks, and did more penguin exploring. We did a few more sled runs down the hill and determined it was time for lunch. Both Aria and I were so happy about our morning. In the car on the way home, we discussed what we were thankful for..
that God made the snow for us to play in
that God made dogs to chase us down the hill on the sled
that God gave us the ability to spend perfect winter Wednesday mornings together
If that isn't pure bliss, I'm not sure what is.
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