Though I could be content sitting on the beach throwing rocks all day, sometimes life beckons. And it makes me get my butt out of the rocks.
This past weekend, Brady P. got to visit Grammy and Grampy Wais in Wisconsin while I drove to Cadillac, MI for my Michigan Outdoor Writer's summer conference. Not going to lie, it's always nice to do Amanda things once in a while.
Grammy and Grampy had lots of plans for Brady P. They went to Glendale Farms to pick strawberries. He got to do all the things I loved when I went to pick as a kid: pet the animals (goats, cows and bunnies), ride the tractor wagon all snuggled up with Grampy and eat strawberries until his face and hands were red. Ah, the simple pleasures of the summer.
Sampling the strawberry fields
He got to sit out in his pool on the hot days while Grammy blew bubbles for him. He has surprisingly good aim popping them as they go by. He even popped two at once -- one with each hand!
Brady P. got to see lots of cows, too. He visited the farm my brother used to work at. Sure was a lot of mooing going on there! We are still working on the "moo" sound. He giggles when I say moo to him.
Once I got there, I got to chase him up and down the sidewalks. Something about a sidewalk -- perhaps the systematic cracks -- keeps him going and going instead of stopping every twenty feet. I had to try to keep up with him!
In the sunshine, he spotted the ants on the sidewalk. He studied them closely in his little squatting position. Tracing their path with his finger and following them with his eyes. Any passersby might wonder what he was doing staring at the ground so intently.
Up in the flower gardens in my parents' backyard, we walked through the blooming beauties and sniffed and "ahhed" until Brady's little chin was covered in pollen. I started teaching him how to smell flowers when he was too young to really know how to sniff. I would show him how to do it by taking a dramatic whiff, then saying, "ahhhh." He would stick his little nose into the blossoms without a sound, but now he takes a good sniff.
I can't tell you how proud it makes me when he walks up to a flower all on his own, leans in and sniffs. I find such joy in his appreciation for the plants and how stinkin' cute he is among the flowers. I guess I just need to teach him how to look for bees now!
Up in the flower gardens in my parents' backyard, we walked through the blooming beauties and sniffed and "ahhed" until Brady's little chin was covered in pollen. I started teaching him how to smell flowers when he was too young to really know how to sniff. I would show him how to do it by taking a dramatic whiff, then saying, "ahhhh." He would stick his little nose into the blossoms without a sound, but now he takes a good sniff.
I can't tell you how proud it makes me when he walks up to a flower all on his own, leans in and sniffs. I find such joy in his appreciation for the plants and how stinkin' cute he is among the flowers. I guess I just need to teach him how to look for bees now!
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