A day off (for Nathan)

Nathan has been rather fiery lately.  He gets that way sometimes.  Mostly when he is tired, or hungry, or stressed, or confused, or any number of things, actually.  And even though his kindergarten is not quite a full day, it is long for him.

So last Wednesday, I decided that we both were in desperate need of a break.  After dropping off the other kids at school, I headed straight to his one of his most favorite places in the whole world: the farm.  Wagner farm is a real, working farm right here in the middle of the urban suburbs of the North Shore.  There are cows, horses, goats, sheep, pigs and chickens, as well as a barn with fun activities where children can learn how to milk a cow, slop a pig, and gather and sort eggs. 

We were the only ones there for the first hour.  Nathan loved the horses, pigs and chickens.  He is cautious about the cows.  Will was scared of the sheep, which kept putting their front legs up on the fence, and loved the cows (which made Nathan nervous).  We stayed for nearly two hours, visiting the animals, swinging on the tree swing, and getting very muddy.

From there, our date moved on to Penny Park in Evanston.

Nathan and I played the funnest game of kissing tag here on this wooden playground.  Nathan suggested that we needed to bring the big kids back so that we could play laser tag.

This park and Nathan go way back. 

Over a year ago, we were delivering dinner to a friend of ours who had just had a baby.  This friend lives very near Penny Park.  As I was driving away from their home, I decided to go home a different way than I had come.  I turned up a street, drove a few blocks, and turned a few more times.  Somewhere along the way, as I was busy driving, Nathan saw this park.

"A wooden park!" he screamed!  "Just like the one in Texas!"  But by the time my mind had registered to listen to what he was screaming, I was long past the park, and had no idea where I was.  

After that, he has mentioned finding the park over and over and over.  I have actually driven around in the area, making half hearted attempts to find his beloved wooden park, with no success.  Then, the other morning, while I was casing the streets of Evanston in search of John's stolen bike, I stumbled upon it, and was thrilled.  I made sure to make note of where I was, so that I could surprise Nathan and bring him back to enjoy it.

And we most definitely did enjoy it.