i wish i could make the title of this post musical. it would be this. i hate hate HATE the wizard of oz so i'm not even going to attempt to embed the video clip. b/c it gives me the heeby-geebies...
so today instead of making the mid-day strained with the girls after lunch, hurrying them to eat & then rushing them off to meijer to pick up my prescription & stuff for addy's halloween school party tomorrow before amelia's nap, i said *screw it* LET'S GO TO THE PARK!
first addy tried to ride/roll on amelia's scooter (would it be ride on or roll on?). we got 3 houses down & after much falling-off-the-scooter drama i calmly walked it back to the house & we switched scooter for bike w/ training wheels. much better. amelia happily rode in the stroller, safely buckled in as she likes to be.
but imagine with me for a minute, adeline on her bike. think ramona quinby. think wicked witch of the west. think of a rooster (you'll see why soon). remember that adeline has some slight gross motor delays, making her pedaling very emphasized & the bike wobbly & that she is 4 years old with all the inquisitiveness that comes with that age...so yea, it took FOREVER to get to the park. i don't know how many leaves were picked up & handed to amelia (who would promptly admire them while adeline was watching, then toss them out the side of the stroller after her sister's attention was diverted). there was also an extra long piece of grass given to me "to put in your hair, mommy. so you look like a princess dora". yep, sure.
once we get to a grove of pine trees, addy skids her bike to a stop. "HAY! HAY! HAY! WHERE ARE THE HORSES TO EAT THIS HAY?!" she was so excited. amelia was bouncing in the stroller: horses! horses! then i explained to her that they were pine needles, not hay, fallen from the trees around us & that horses don't eat pine needles--as far as i know.
next we come upon two ladies walking, side by side. they were walking towards us, good for their sakes & lives. b/c instead of slowing down or getting over to one side of the walkway, adeline speeds up & leans into the bike handles, ringing her bike bell 2 or 3 times. the two women go single file as they see addy doing this. then instead of shouting out something like "reckless driver here! watch out!" she does a rooster crow: COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO! COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO! with one hand cupped over her mouth for emphasis. the ladies totally walk into the grass & wait for us to pass them; they looked amused & puzzled, probably about the rooster crow. i just laughed & mumbled something about 'she learns the oddest things at preschool'. b/c really, who knows where she learned to do the rooster crow? she says dora taught her. ?? somehow, i felt no embarrassment from this crowing or pushing pedestrians off her path, just laughing away. really, i'm a great mother.
sidenote: i think the only time of day when addy is truly quiet is when she's on her bike. i might just make this a daily thing, riding her bike, s-l-w-o-w-l-y, to make it last. aaahhh, the quiet. i love talking with her but my goodness, does she ever have a lot to say.
the park visit was pretty uneventful, minus adeline nearly falling 10 feet b/c she didn't quite make it up the climbing thingy, calling out for me as she was hanging there, fingers slipping...while i was helping amelia up another climbing apparatus--leaving amelia then hanging to grab addy then dashing over to grab amelia who had a curiously humored look on her face. then amelia wanted to swing in the big swing 'high high'...then she wanted her daddy there to push her higher. "daddy push high". nope, no daddy, just me the mom who i guess doesn't push very high.
so then we go to take a walk through the woods--which really aren't woods, just a cluster of 100 trees. it's kinda pathetic that my girls think that is what 'woods' are, eh? but so it goes in the 'burbs. so i agreed to take a walk through the woods & halfway through i shout out to addy, asking her if she smells the fall leaves on the ground. she abruptly turns her bike to me, nearly wrecking from the 180 degree turn & says "repeat that, mommy"...so i do & she agrees that she can smell the leaves & then smiles, waves, & takes off again...but this time slowly only b/c she was looking at something in the trees & jabbering away.
i stop & look at amelia, asking her the same question but am horrified to find her eyes all puffy, nose running, & she's even coughing a bit...hello, allergies? but still, amelia takes a deep breath & gives me a raspy "yea! smell leaves! yea!" & grins. this is when she takes on her favorite stroller position: hanging her head off the side of the stroller, upside down. sometimes she turns her head to see behind her, upside down. other times she's forward facing, but always upside down. & yea, she does look like she's ready to fall out of the stroller...but doesn't! b/c she always straps herself in (safety first?).
then we walk by two guys playing tennis. the older one says hello to addy. she rings her bell back & does a rooster crow. amelia--still head upside down--waves slightly & says very loudly: HI! HI! HI! we come again to the pine trees & suddenly addy takes her feet off the pedals & crashes into the wooden fence, jumps off her bike & starts to push the dead pine needles off the path. she tells me she's doing this 'very important for the horses'...apparently she doesn't believe my horses-don't-eat-pine-needles story. whatever, kiddo. i was still worried about the crashing into the wooden fence part, myself.
so then we make it to the stop sign. we cross the street just as a mom on her bike w/ toddler in a bike seat & two other girls on their bikes are ready to cross the street across from us. it was a total stall b/c addy had no clue what to do even though i was standing beside her saying 'addy, go around the girl on the bike. get off your bike & walk around her. addy. addy, go around the girl.' she just stood there, frozen. finally, the other mom said "maybe you get on the sidewalk first & then we will cross the street?" & addy happily said "okay!" & pedals onto the sidewalk, around the group. & i mumble something like "looks like you girls are having fun" but i'm thinking something along the lines of 'what?just?happened?' it was just a strange 30 seconds, just her staring, frozen...of course, with amelia hanging her head over the side of the stroller, looking at them upside down.
i have no clue how we made it home in record time. i think maybe b/c it's a bit downhill from there, with adeline ringing her bike bell for squirrels or a fenced-in dog & amelia hanging her head over the side of the stroller. amelia then fell asleep within 5 minutes of being home & adeline begged to watch my little pony online. i was able to wash my hair! maybe in her sleep amelia is writing a blog post about what the world looks like upside down, being walked in a stroller...or about her sister's quirks.
yep, just a park visit i don't want to forget.
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