Lovely Day For A Picnic

Lovely Day For A Picnic

What a beautiful day to be outside. June has been so oppressively hot, this cooler and not humid weather is ideal. Oliver was supposed to have a cardiology appointment this morning, but they called last night to reschedule. Matt was off for the morning and we had a free day, so we packed up the kids and headed to our favorite playground for some playtime and a picnic. This particular park has a carousel. Both kids enjoy riding it, but Oliver *loves* it. It typically takes him a bit to realize it is there, because he is so excited by the playground itself. However, once he notices it he is unable to do anything but circle the gate surrounding it. Waverly rode the zebra and Oliver rode a horse. He loved every moment of it. Then it was off for a picnic lunch. After lunch, we walked the nature trail before heading home. What a perfect day.

Comments

Stephanie from Portland said…

I'm so glad the weather cooperated for you. It looks like a lovely day. That picture of Waverly under the branch is great and is it just me or is Oliver getting really tall? :)

July 1, 2010 at 6:19 PM

Welcome to Holland

By Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland.""Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.