Happy belated Earth Day, everyone! I’d have written this Sunday but we were too busy loving Mother Earth. It was a day to enjoy the lovely weather generally and living in Ottawa particularly.

Reid and I went out for breakfast at Eddies for the first time in more than a month. We’d missed the place but were welcomed back as the regulars we are. Afterwards, we headed straight for The Farm. Daddy was left at home, with hopes for sleeping in as he wasn’t given a chance to fully adjust to our time zone before going back to work. On the way, I mentioned “the Agricultural Museum” and then Reid was asking whether we were going to The Farm or museum first. She didn’t seem to get that they were the same place and I wasn’t doing a good job explaining it, obviously. We arrived before opening time and so had time to read a book - Iggy Pig’s Snowy Day, that we’d got at the book sale in the church where Kindermusik is on Saturday. The farm animals in the book got us in the mood for the live ones. As we walked to the admissions booth, Reid told me the order in which she wanted to see the animals: horses first, then the bull, etc. Conveniently, her preferrences match the groupings of animals in the barns that we visit but it was interesting to note that she remembered which animals were where. There were so many baby animals in the barns. The ewe I took a picture of a few weeks ago had a lamb in with her. It was kicking up its heels and jumping around, dare I say gamboling, just like lambs in cartoons do. Reid laughed a deep, belly laugh at the sight. She is such a joyous individual, my Reid. There were baby Angora goats, too. They entertained by standing in the hay dispenser-thing that the mama goat was eating out of. There was also a pen with quite a few older lambs and sheep but these ones were clustered together, in various stages of falling to or being asleep. Reid surprised me a bit by not trying to wake them. On our way to the pigs, where there always seems to be piglets, we saw many baby chicks in a room with a couple of heater lamps but there were no mamas in there with them. This was puzzling for my almost-joined-to-my-hip girl. Why wouldn’t they stay with their mamas? We spent lots of time looking at babies of all kinds.

We went for a ride on the horse-drawn wagon on the way back to our car. When we entered, I’d decided not to buy the tickets for the wagon ride, thinking that Reid might not want to go by the end of the visit or maybe we wouldn’t have time. We spent at least 10 minutes in line waiting to buy the tickets with Reid asking “what doing, Mama?” every 90 seconds or so. Next time, I’ll buy the tickets and give them away if I have to.

Once home, we had soup and cucumbers for lunch with Daddy and then went up for a nap. Reid slept for more than two hours. I love watching her sleep and let her sleep longer than I should have.

Daddy and Reid went to the Aviation Museum to see the daddy, baby, and mama airplanes from their earlier visits. They also saw a baby helicopter and Reid got to sit in a little two-seater airplane. She played on some chairs as well. From the way Daddy told it, the chairs were about as popular as the airplanes. Kids are funny, aren’t they? They played a bit at the park outside of the museum and then came home.

Reid joined me in the kitchen as soon as they got home. I’m not sure if she recognized the pan or the smell but she soon asked, “We eat durry, Mama?” When I told her that we were, she smiled a great big smile and I was extra glad that I’d skipped the museum and stayed home to cook. Plus, I got the Tupperware drawer tidied up and, as pathetic as it sounds, that was a happy thing for me. Reid ate like a stevedore which always makes me feel like a fabulous cook. Small pleasures add up to great joy.

After supper, we went out to the driveway and Reid showed Daddy what a good rollerskater she is. Reid is able to stand without support to put her skates on. I was impressed that she could stand in one and get the other on without falling over (like I suspect that I would do). When I commented to Daddy that Reid had good balance, he said that just because Reid had better balance than me, it didn’t mean she had “good balance”. I think I detected pride in his face, though. We also got out the sidewalk chalk and drew some shapes and letters; it gave us a chance to play a game of “I spy” though I don’t think I’ve ever actually said the “I spy with my little eye” rhyme.

Finally, we went into the house and up to the tub. It was a fabulous day.