Hannah loaded up the tots for church. Eloise and I stayed home. They all climbed into her rented minivan, drove a few blocks, squeezed into a parallel parking space. Unloaded all three kiddos, crossed the street.
“Oh, are we going to this church today?” Isaac asked.
Hannah stopped mid-step. “This isn’t your church?”
“Nooooooo.”
“….oh. Ok, everyone back in the car.”
Stuffed them in the car, buckled everyone up again, five-point-turned out of the space, continued a mile down the road. Unloaded three squirmers all over again.
“Everything’s a hassle,” Hannah deadpanned when they got home. “But 45 minutes where no one was climbing on me? It was worth it.”
I don’t know why that story makes me giggle so much. We later changed the words of “Everything is Awesome!” to “Everything’s a Hassle!”
Leaves were in peak color for their visit, so that was a nice foil for the hassles. Walks to the park, strolls to the river to throw rocks—finally, I turned a corner and felt able to do these things! Progress!
We spent one gorgeous, sunny morning at First Landing State Park, where Europeans…you know…first landed…in this area. A park ranger gave us the perfect half-mile walk over boardwalks and under Spanish moss-draped colorful trees. Toddler heaven! Then we had lunch at the playground.
Thanks for coming to help, Hannie! I don’t know what we would’ve done without you!!
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| We didn’t see any turtles. |
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| But we saw LOTS of delight and joy! |
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| First Landing State Park—we recommend it! |