Well, hello Spring!

The sun is shining.  The birds a singing.  The calender says today is the day!  With the early morning breeze we headed straight to the park.  We were well equipped with snacks, drinks and the hopes of hours of play for the boys while I went over notes for the conference in between the many photo opportunities that I simply could not pass up.  A great start to the day.

The only blemish was this man by himself swinging on the swings.  Like any good Mom I steered the boys clear of the swing set and while keeping an eye on them I also kept an eye on him.  That is until he began walking around the parked yelling threats into the phone because apparently he had been stood up and was owed about 10 grand.  Apparently the one on the other end of the conversation wasn't about to pay up.  He actually started climbing on the playground equipment while having said conversation. 

Man of the woods, the trusting guy that he is, went right over and began to play next to Gangster guy.  I in my, let us stay calm voice so as not to get on this guys bad side, did my best to call Man of the woods back to me.  However, he being three decided today was the day to push the limits and argued with me. The other Moms nicely tried to get me to understand just how worried they were about this man while I was being ignored by my three year old.  As soon as he obeyed we packed up, got in the car and called the police.

I was livid at his disobedience, I didn't know how to talk with him, so I took Man of the woods straight to Strong Man's office.  Where they had a heart to heart talk and as I had hoped a great fear was put into him as he began to understand the importance of obeying immediately and the danger I was trying to protect him from.

I have no idea what became of Gangster guy, but it was a great learning lesson for Man of the woods....And that is how we began our Spring.

1890.  A nice breeze, great sun, and perfect park days.
1891.  A boy who dressed himself, wearing two pairs of underwear.
1892.  wood chips & imaginations.
1893.  Seagulls.
1894.  Picnic tables covered in snacks and much chatter all around.
1895.  My camera to capture the moments.
1896.  Man of the woods now able to climb the rope ladder that last year he was shy off.
1897.  Big slides.
1898.  Pretend restaurants.
1899.  Mothers looking out for each other and the children.
1900.  Excitement of feeding the birds.
1901.  Boys trying there hardest to sneak up on the birds.
1902.  Strong man to do what I can't.
1903.  Lessons learned, awareness raised.
1904.  11 open windows.
1905.  Curtains gently swaying in the breeze.
1906.  The songs of birds.