we tried going on a walk to the park and when we arrived we realized we couldn't play there because all the toys would be too too too hot :)... so, we went to the dirty duck park instead of the clean one because it was closer and we were running out of time...
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| see how green and dirty the water looks! |
when we arrived, I set asher free from the confines of his stroller... he immediately ran over to the only other people that happened to be there... a young man and his... wife?... sister?, i wasn't sure but he had a protective air about him. She was severely crippled and hobbling around on one brace trying to feed the ducks and enjoy nature. it was a reminder to me to be grateful... to be kind...to marvel at the tenacity and endurance of the human spirit. They were warm and kind and shared their food for the ducks with asher (corn chips)... it was a beautiful moment but a part of me felt awkward despite this couple's kindness. asher is so unafraid of people when we are at the park... so willing to go up to them and figuratively embrace them... sometimes literally as in the case of the runners around the byu race track... while i love that he is so unafraid and so willing to love others, i, as mother, am lingering around my child while the strangers try to appropriately respond to this precocious child... if they knew asher it wouldn't be so awkward i am sure... part of my insecurity is that i don't know how long i should allow asher to linger and when we should say, thank you and move on to do our own thing... after all, our fellow park goers did not go there to play with asher but have their own agenda and things to talk about while there. i was grateful in the end that they were generous and sweet and shared with asher their smiles, their generosity and their corn chips.next, asher, isaac and i moved up the stairs and found a little patch of grass where i could put isaac down (he later wondered off and found some bushes with two to three inch thorns... luckily, he hadn't tried to hold them yet) i then chased asher in a game of tag while isaac watched... sometimes laughing.... sometimes oblivious and doing his own discoveries and sometimes i could see a longing to join in the fun (walk baby walk!)... This fun only lasted a few moments. Asher's attention span will only last so long, especially when just few feet away from our playing were some sprinklers... it only took a few minutes of playing and maneuvering for asher to realize that he could control the direction of the sprinkler... while i was encouraging him to stop and desist from this fascinating activity... i heard yelping and screaming... i looked up the hill and realized asher was soaking two coed girls coming home from classes... i hadn't realized how far the sprinkler could go... before we left asher sprinkled one other coed and a man in a nice dress suit... after this last incident it was time to employ some discipline and remove my child from the situation. So back down the stairs to the stroller we went (oh and did i mention... on the way up the stairs some one randomly turned around after they passed us to casually remark on how cute my children were... that is only because he hadn't been sprayed with the sprinkler :) :) )... on the way back down... we came across the byu construction crew rebuilding a creek bed, waterfall, and brick path... asher, with his usual lack of fear, walked straight up to the young men and started grilling them on what was going on! ( i will write the questions down... i can't remember the order or how often he repeated the same question...)
"what are you guys doing?"
"are you working hard?"
"where is the tractor?"
"is it tired?"
"what is that pile of dirt doing"
"what are those bricks doing" (this is his funniest way of asking things... what are those mountains doing, mom? or what is that store doing?... things like that)
their first response was shock and reserve... then smiles and nods as they tried to respond and translate my three year old's jabber... then actual answers :)...
later, the boss of these young men came over and let asher work with the guys (they had to re do what asher did and even some of what they did because asher was not careful enough to avoid the smooth dirt and walked right through it! :)... but asher loved it and they didn't seem to mind but seemed (so hard to tell) to be enjoying the moment too!
while asher was working, he said...
"this is hard work!"
"i love working with tools and dirt!"
"i love hard work!" (i hope that lasts!)
their boss took pictures of asher and then sent one to me so that i could have proof that my son worked for byu... he told us we could use it for later when we tried to get asher into byu... he was just a genuinely sweet man... which made a good day even better... i felt enhanced... uplifted... encouraged by the generosity of the people around us... making a fun day with my children, beautiful... one that i wish to remember forever... it could have been a hard day after all... chasing asher away from the sprinklers and keeping him safe by my side... but instead it was nice... pleasant... beautiful... amplified by the interactions of really good people who were generous, kind and accepting of my sons forward nature :)
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| these pictures were not taken the day of this walk |
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