As happens every year around this time, I start thinking about how summer is coming to an end, and I usually try to fit in a lot of fun activities before the kids head back to school.
Quite often, this period is a time of reflection, as I ponder if there are any places we could still visit during the next couple of weeks. These memories can be a wonderful thing, but sometimes they stab me in the heart as I realize the kids will be out of the house before I know it. I so miss the days of pulling my kids in a wagon through a museum we visit called Greenfield Village. Usually, the memories that hit me hardest are the little things, like watching the kids run down the hill in the backyard, or celebrating with whichever child caught a grasshopper (and cringing inside because insects creep me out). It is these little snapshots of life that fill up my brain, and not so much trips that were elaborately planned and were somewhat expensive.
A memory that always makes me smile was a small excursion I took with the kids when they were toddlers. My oldest son was 5, my daughter was 3 and my youngest son was 18 months, and my husband was out of town. Late that afternoon, I gave all the kids their baths and put them in their pajamas. Nothing was really striking me for dinner, so I decided to just hop in the car and see where we ended up. Of course, the kids picked McDonald’s, and we ate in the van in the parking lot. After dinner, I just started driving. Next thing I know, I am going through the Detroit tunnel to Windsor and taking the kids to play at one of their favorite playgrounds along the Detroit River in Canada. I love this play area because it had that spongy material underneath instead of wood chips or sand, and the view of Detroit is quite nice from this spot.
Anyway, we were all playing, and my youngest child started wandering over to a giant pit of mud. When he got there, he just sat himself down and started having the time of his life. We were are laughing our heads off; this child had mud all over his pajamas and all through his hair. I looked at him and wondered how I was going to get this little mess home. So, we took him to the restroom, put all his clothes in a bag, and tried to get at least some of the mud off of him. In the end, my little guy ended up riding home from Canada in just his diaper, and he thought it was the funniest thing in the world. (As did all of us.) I was wondering if the border patrol would wonder why I was crossing into another country with my child clad in just a diaper, but nobody ever asked. (If I was smuggling an apple across the border though, that would be a different story!)
This little trip cost about $20 total, including dinner and border crossing fees. (I was even able to salvage my son’s pajamas with a good soaking.) I have to say this may be the best twenty dollars I have ever spent in my life. I never could have planned such a perfect sequence of events, and that is how the best things in life usually are. That is what is so great about just hopping in the car and ending up wherever and not having a plan. There are no preconceived expectations and life can just flow.
Unfortunately, it is a lot harder to find the time to just hop in the car and drive away for an undetermined amount of time since my kids are older and have so many commitments. So, I will just cherish all the memories I have, and feel lucky for all the wonderful time we have had as a family.
Do you have a memory you would like to share of something that turned out great, and was somewhat unexpected?