Just a Nice Day

We Love Fountains

It's been a hectic couple of weeks around the clubhouse lately. We had an incident almost two weeks ago that scared us, and I still can't write about it (maybe later). Let's just say for now that sleep (and the lack of it) has been a major factor in all of our lives lately. This has left us on edge while we prepare for an upcoming IEP meeting. Buddy Boy's days have been up and down, and all of our nerves have been on edge.

I took a bike ride this morning (I often go out on Sunday mornings-it's kind of like rolling meditation for me). Then I took the kids on a ride when I got back. We went to the park on our bikes, and it worked out fairly well. Buddy Boy rolled off the sidewalk a few times and crashed on the way to and from the park (the sidewalk's fairly narrow), but he didn't have any escalating meltdowns (just a couple of short easily controlled ones) and we all had fun.

After we got back and cleaned up Liz suggested we all go to the local botannical garden for a walk. It was a beautiful day in the land of Club 166. It was in the low 80's F (28-29 C), not too humid, and sunny. A bit warmer than usual for this time of year, but a great day for a walk.



There's just something about a walk in a garden that just helps lift burdens from your shoulders. It's really hard to be upset when you're surrounded by such beauty. There were a lot of nice azaleas blooming, although there were also quite a few that had suffered in a late freeze that we had a few weeks ago. But the blooming ones made up for those that had their flowers damaged.



Buddy Boy said he liked the flowers when asked, but spent most of his attention on the fountains, water lines, and rocks. He has always loved fountains. About the only thing he likes better than a functioning fountain is one that has been drained, so that he can see all the pipes and nozzles and such that are usually underwater.



We walked thru the Japanese garden, and the kids (and I) fed the koi. The kids knelt down at the water's edge and fed the fish, and didn't even fall in. Truly a success! Sweet Pea complained some about being tired of walking, but managed to do alright. She's the toe walker in the family. She's worn splints and had her legs casted for 6 weeks last year (she was also the only 3 year old I know of to get Botox injections), but still has to be reminded to pick up her toes and walk on her heels. She's also just not as much an outdoors person as Buddy Boy is. He'll hike all day (although he likes to stop a lot and dig and such-but hey, that's what hiking in the outdoors is all about, right?). But Sweet Pea balks at walking any more than around a mall. She'll be a perfect teenager.

The $8 admission for Liz and I (kids are free) was cheap therapy. We spent a couple of hours surrounded by beauty, with a soft breeze, sunny skies, and the sounds of running water. Who could ask for more. The kids were fairly well behaved (for siblings), and both had a good time. Just the bit of respite that we needed.