Taming the wild beasts

This morning was a challenge. Both kids seemed antsy so what did I do? I quickly got them dressed and out the door. Getting out of the house seems to get them in a better mood, especially if I'm the only one at home. I didn't even have time to grab some breakfast before we headed out the door! I decided that we needed to stop at our local coffee shop to grab a triple mocha to give me a kick-start. Then we headed next door to get some bagels. The kids already had eaten some cereal for breakfast but when they're presented with fresh bagels and cream cheese their stomachs have room for that! After quickly eating we headed out for 30 minutes of play at the park. Not the area of the park that has swings and the sand box, but the open field area that they use to play soccer. Why? Because this would give the kids a chance to just RUN, run, run! They needed to have room to roam and feel the wide open space, so that's what I delivered. I had no expectations other than having them meander to and fro. I pretended to be a plane and ran around. This prompted my daughter to also become a plane and run. Seeing us "take off" encouraged my son to just run chasing butterflies and birds. It was a good time. When they had let off some steam I broke out the bubbles. Luckily we've got a Gymboree bubble blower so I didn't pass out. That little bubble blower puts out at least 50 tiny bubbles with each breath so it was money well spent. PLUS I had the Gymboree bubbles which stay "alive" for a LONG time. They don't immediately pop after 5 seconds like you'd see with most bubble solutions. These things stay around for a while! We saw bubbles floating out of sight. We had bubbles all over the grass too. YUP! These things can float down and don't necessarily pop once they land. So the kids were even kneeling down and popping bubbles. So even if the stuff is on the pricey side I didn't use much -- maybe 2 tablespoons if that. After 30 minutes of play the kids were hot and sweaty. They both had red faces -- by the time we left it was at least 90 degrees. And yes...I had hats on both of them so they didn't get as much sun as they could have. But they happily went back into the car and didn't complain once we got home. I threw them both into the tub for a cool rinse, which they both desperately needed, and they were both VERY relaxed afterwards. Whew! You've got to LOVE the fact that kids don't need much to make them happy sometimes!