Post-victual perambulation

OR:

We went for a walk after dinner last night.

We strolled to the nearby school playground, and the three neighbour kids got permission from their parents to accompany us.  We see them for two or three hours nearly every day.  I think they sometimes annoy me more than they do my wife, but I have to acknowledge a certain degree of symbiosis since they do a lot of the tending to our children when they're around, provide a distraction and allow Amy and me to get other work done.  But they're young enough (between seven and nine) to need tending - and refereeing - as well.

So the seven of us (plus a wee, spastic dog) walked over to the playground in the cool, overcast evening weather.  Tavish put his fledgling climbing skills on display and also exhibited a certain degree of fearlessness when poised at the top of what, to him, must have been a monstrously huge slide.  The voices in the video are mostly the neighbour kids.

Comments

[Sarah]

I think everyone should wear such tasselled hats. It would probably bring about world peace.

[Émilie B]

That's a good idea.

Was it really cold around your area last night? I'd love for Xavier to enjoy slides so much, but so far he's just not getting the point. He'd rather climb them than slide them down.

[Mark]

Great video. I love that Amy couldn't resist a loving chuckle after Tav's first trip down the slide. There's something only parents can understand.

My vote's in for tasseled hats.

[Tal]

The tassled hat perplexed me, but then I got over it and just loved it.

Thanks for the video Simon, little trotting lags made me smile.

[Simon]

Sarah, I'm going to blame you for confusing everyone else. It's really a tasseled hood that's part of the sweater Tav is wearing. But yes, they might help bring about world peace, so that's OK.

[Moksha Gren]

I...I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record of late, but I just can't get over the image of a child running around in a long-sleeve sweater with his hood pulled up while we're facing 100+ degree temperatures. What cruel torture is this you throw at us, Simon? Reminding us of how deliciously cool it is there.

Aside from that..I loved the video. Quite the brave boy you have there. Fear of neither chutes nor ladders. Nice.

I also found the walk home engaging somehow. He was just strolling...and yet I was mesmerized by the cuteness. It's a powerful force these wee ones wield.

[Mark]

I admit I had to refresh my memory of Sir Edmund Hillary (okay, there was none). Fitting opening caption for the video. That boy is quite the climbing wonder.

You're the sherpa, right, Simon?

[Simon]

Moksha, I know you're away doing reverend wedding stuff, but accept my apology in your absence for forcing you to face the unbearable heat at home. Hopefully, in Iowa, it's cooler for you?

Mark, I suppose that would sort of make me the sherpa. Bearing the load and having, generally, the harder climb while garnering none of the glory. I think there's a strong correlation between parents and sherpas, now that you mention it!

[Moksha Gren]

It was somewhat cooler in Iowa...but we made up for that by piling on layers of tuxedos and hanging out in the sun ;)