How to make an adventure

A few Saturdays ago, we were planning on exploring a new park in West Seattle.  I packed up some sandwiches, some apples, carrots, hummus, chips, and a few cookies, and we headed out for our picnic adventure.  However, once we got to the beach park (about 30 minutes away), we realized that neither Richard nor I had remember to bring the backpack full of food.  For about 10 minutes I was devastated.  I was so looking forward to my pbj and carrots and hummus.  It was lunchtime so we ran across the street and picked up some subway sandwiches.  But every bite tasted of disappointment to me.  I wanted the picnic I had packed at home!!  I recovered, and we had a great afternoon exploring and playing by sea.  But there was still the issue of that lovely lunch that I had packed...

And on the way home, I formulated a new plan:

what if we hiked around our backyard when we got home and then had a picnic in our house and ate our "lunch" for dinner? 

When we got home, Richard and Anna strapped on their headlamps and headed out to the backyard to find some creatures in the wilderness.  Playing with the headlamps is one of their special bonding mechanisms.  They will strap them on and then go hide in the closet and tell stories and giggle.

 

 

Also, Richard does this with Pringles chips that Anna loves.  He puts two in his mouth and pretends that they are a duckbill.  Anna just rolls and laughs and asks him to do it again and again.  And then she eats them.  Anna would sell her right arm for Pringles (left handed you know).

Benjamin is the easiest, roll-with-it kind of baby.  During our one attempt at camping this past year, he was the one having the easiest time.  He takes things in stride.  Here he is lounging in the princess chair.

All in all, it was a great adventure day.  I really enjoyed having a picnic for dinner in our kitchen.  It was playful and made a great memory for our family.  It just took me some time to recover from the day I had planned in my mind.  I have this idea of the kind of experience I want, and then when things start taking a different turn I have the tendency to mope and to mourn the loss of the memory I wanted to have, but what I have learned is that you don't have to go far to be adventurous and to think outside the box.  And also that no day spent with your family is a waste.  And as far as Anna was concerned, it was all part of the grand plan to have fun together.  Mission accomplished!