An evening walk

We were all so eager to leave the house after dinner last night (or was that just me?...hmmn, clean up dinner dishes or leave...) that Carmel hadn't even finished her last bite of food before we were piled in the car, engined revved up and in hot pursuit of some double dip ice cream with sprinkles on top. I ended up settling for a mint chocolate chip milkshake. Actually, I always end up settling for a mint chocolate chip something. All the way to the ice cream shop I tell myself, "pick something different!", but every time I gaze into that little chest of ice cream choices I can't help noticing my ol' reliable good-tasting mint chocolate chip gazing right back at me and well, I just can't help myself. Always the mint.

We ended up enjoying a nice walk near an old train bridge not too far from home. I am always amazed at the beauty of this area, even in the places I don't expect it.

Carmel headed straight for the water and dove right in to some rock tossing. Owen got held up for a very few sad moments on some muddy shoes, "slap" shoes, that is. Yes, "slap" shoes. I'm not sure how he came up with the name for them but that is certainly how they are known around here. They are very much loved and oh so pleasingly named AND they should NOT be muddy under ANY circumstances!

Hmmn...getting them wet is okay though...it seems. Sometimes it's hard for me to understand all of these kid-rules. Suddenly, I find myself thinking about Owen trying to figure out all of our rules from day to day. I'm sure he finds our rules equally as bewildering.

Please notice Owens "new" shirt, if you will. He is in to heavy equipment in a very big way right now. I tried to design a Digger Loader stencil (I say that like I really know what one is.) for one of his shirts that needed some stain coverage. I cut the design out of wax paper, ironed it on to the shirt and then sprayed it with fabric paint (look here and here for more on that). He was so excited about his new shirt that I couldn't stop myself from dreaming up heavy equipment stencil designs for the rest of the evening. Anything to see those sweet eyes sparkle with excitement, you know. Of course.

So, along we went until the evening grew dark. Carmel, nearly a champion rock tosser upon leaving. Owen, with some extraordinarily clean (no matter how wet) "slap" shoes. A mama and a papa with two very sleepy babies just moments from bed time. And, a kitchen filled with some rather lonely dinner plates that were forced to wait around for another day while we enjoyed a beautiful summer night together.