Walk on the Wild Side

On Sunday, we took a walk in an open space preserve a few minutes' drive from our house. I had been on this walk once before, with just me and the boys, but the numerous signs warning about possible mountain lions in the area made me a little nervous, especially when a sign said something like "If you have small children with you and you encounter a mountain lion, pick them up so you appear larger and more threatening". I can only pick up 2 of my 3 kids at once, so which one would end up being a mountain lion snack?!?. Also, I didn't like being reminded by the sign that "If you see a mountain lion, it has been watching you froma distance [i.e. stalking!!] for quite a while, so don't try to run or hide".

On Sunday's walk, David came with us, which made me feel lots safer in and of itself, but he also brought along a sturdy wooden bat, with which he assured me that he could crush any mountain lion's skull, if needbe :).

We had a lovely walk, and the boys enjoyed running ahead a little without worrying about cars. It really felt like we were out in the country somewhere. I snapped the photos above with my new camera, which I love!

This week has been busy, and it's only Tuesday. Jack got 3 shots today in preparation for Kindergarten enrollment, which I have do by this Thursday. The dr's office was jam-packed, and the nurses and receptionists were wearing those protective face masks -- I suppose to protect against possible swine flu exposure? Jack was a brave little guy and did just fine with the shots.

Afterward, we had to run by the dentist's office for more Kindergarten paperwork, and then to the library to return books, and by then it was just about lunch time. I thought it might be nice to treat the boys to Happy Meals, so I drove through and brought them home. Oddly enough, the only thing Jack and Thomas ended up eating were the buns off of their hamburgers! (which I ordered completely plain, figuring they wouldn't like pickles or onions). They didn't even touch their french fries, and they just took a few sips of chocolate milk! They said they didn't really care for the food. I suppose that's not necessarily bad, but I did find it kind of funny. Kids are supposed to like Happy Meals! And I felt a little bad that my idea of a treat ended up being not so exciting for them. Also, the Happy Meal toy quality has really gone downhill --- the boys each got music CDs with 5 songs of kids doing covers for pop music tunes. It was OK, but whatever happened to actual toys that they could take out of the Happy Meal box and play with immediately? I remember one time, I think I was in Kindergarten, Mom took us to McDonald's for lunch and our Happy Meal came inside a hollow, plastic submarine with two halves that snapped together. After lunch, you could play with it, and even use it as a bath toy!

Anyway, I'll leave you now with a couple of Jack and Thomas gems (it's hilarious to hear them talk to each other!):

• Jack -- "Thomas, you're making my brain hurt!"
• Thomas -- "Jack, sometimes when I was a little kid, I had seeds in my clementines, too." (said in a consoling tone to Jack, who was upset that his clementine had seeds in it. Thomas's tone also heavily suggested that he "was a little kid" a looong time ago :) )