Friday Night Mystery

I called Ryan about 4:00 p.m. to see if he wanted Friday Fondue or something else for supper. He suggested we take the kids to Woolly Hollow State Park for a cook-out. I told the kids we were going to do something fun, but it was a secret. At first they hated the fact it was a secret, and they whined to know. This is typical, which always takes the fun away from me, the lover of all things "secret" and "surprise." However, after a minute, they soon got into the "mystery." I gave them a few clues (involves food, might want to wear your bathing suit in case you get wet, etc.), and answered a few questions (no, not going to a hotel, etc.) It was so sweet hearing Tornado and Dash try to figure it out between themselves. "Do you think we're going to swim in the pool?" "No, she said we weren't going to a 'tel (hotel)." When we got to the park, they said it was a good surprise and Dash, in a very grown-up way, added, "I thought we were going to the movies." Ryan and I decided that Fridays should be our new mystery night - plan something fun/different each week, even if it's something as small as renting a movie and making popcorn, and let the kids look forward to the "surprise" aspect of it.

This photo wasn't set up. I looked over at them, and they were all holding their noses when Ryan started the fire. Sissy must have seen her brothers doing it.

cooking our tofu "dogs" and baked beans

Mmm...S'mores...using Sweet & Sarah gelatin-free marshmallows and Newman's Own dark chocolate bar

After we ate, we walked down to the water's edge and played around bare-footed for awhile. Of course, they threw rocks. We also played in the playground area until it was too dark to see anymore. There was another boy who suggested they play "Pirates of the Caribbean," and oh, how they took off with that. It's always kind of nice to have another kid around for them to play with - lessens our parental obligation to run around and entertain them/allowed us to sit and delight in watching the little sweeties' imaginations at work. We were laughing so hard at how fast Sissy would go down the twirly slide all by herself, run (her little waddle run) as fast as she could back to the ladder and back up/down again. I've mentioned before how much she loves slides. We never knew how she was going to come down - on her stomach, back, and even backwards on her back. (You wouldn't believe how fast I jumped up to make sure she wouldn't land on her head, when I saw that one coming.)