Something Old, Something New

Last Monday, Leighton was a bit ill so we kept him home from school to recuperate and get a little rest.  The weather was warm, but not too hot, so it was the perfect opportunity to go for a long walk in the morning just like we used to in the spring before the summer heat set in.  Leighton was extremely excited when I suggested a walk to Goodwill for new books and Riley was thrilled to hop in the stroller and get outside.

Our walk started as usual: snacks, same route, running into Billy for a chat along the way, checking out what we could see in the bayou (no turtles or fish today).  And then it all changed and we got a little something new to add to our walk this time around.  We were looking in the bayou and taking some pictures, and then all of a sudden, the wind picked up and my favorite cardigan blew right off the stroller handle and over the railings and down onto the cement sides of the bayou.

I was so sad.  I thought there was no way to retrieve it and it would blow into the water and wash away. Leighton was incredibly sweet as we continued our walk and made lots of suggestions to make it better - Daddy can go get it, he could draw me a new one, I could go shopping, or Grandma could sew me a new one (so creative and comforting this little guy of mine!).

We got to Goodwill and things were same old, same old while there: Leighton found lots of books, I found some books, Riley refused to have anything to do with children's books and only wanted to hold onto random adult books I'd have no interest in reading, and we left with them both begging for more to eat.  When we got back to the bayou, we took a look at the bayou and saw my cardigan in the exact same spot.  I was pretty surprised the wind didn't move it.  As we were looking (and taking a picture, of course!), a man saw us and offered to go get it for me.  I was so thankful that he'd be willing to climb down there.

See that little black spot halfway down the cement??

Once again we were on our way.  Same route, snacks, reminiscing about random things we had seen on previous walks home from Goodwill (including the time Papa picked up and peeled and tasted the orange citrus fruit that had fallen from a tree and we found it was party rotten!).

We decided to make a detour once we were at the school/park right before the house.  We thought we'd try to find the trees that Billy had told us about that grew the really big acorns.  Our fingers were crossed that we could find some on the ground, but knew that even if we didn't Billy could help us get some with his long picking stick.  It was our lucky day because we found a couple on the ground, and even though Leighton said, "Wow, I didn't think a Mommy as short as you could reach that one!" I did manage to get a nice one right from the tree (and when we got home, Billy had left several on the front step, too).

Once we got home, we checked out our new books, had some lunch and got Riley down for her nap.

In the afternoon, I thought we'd change things up and try a new snack.  I made some banana sushi!  I saw the idea on Pinterest a while ago and finally gave it a shot.  The kids seemed to really like the first piece they ate.  Then Riley decided it was too messy and tried it with a fork instead.  And then she just decided licking the (Trader Joe's!!  Yay!!) rice krispies off the outside was her favorite way to enjoy them!