An Outside Day

Disclaimer: At some point in this post, I'm going to complain about the weather. This will seem ridiculous 1) to those of you who know how incredibly gorgeous the San Francisco Bay Area weather tends to be, or 2) to those of you who live in places that are still getting ice and snow this time of year. But stay with me - my complaints are justified, I promise.

My toddler has the energy of a tasmanian devil. Of all of the fine qualities he's known for, sitting down quietly and calmly is not one of them. This kid is a mover and a shaker, always on the go. He's also a guy's guy who likes to run around outside, drawn like a magnet to exploring all of the dirtiest areas of the yard. It's for all of these reasons that the past couple of months or so have been so incredibly difficult for us him. Once a year, like clockwork, we hit our rainy season. A good nine months out of the year are sunny and dry, but the other three are nothing but straight rain. For days and days and days. And days. Which means no playing outside. If you also have a tasmanian devil toddler, you'll understand the horror of the previous sentence.

Thankfully, we've *finally* crossed back into beautiful weather again, and decided to take advantage of it today. From the time he woke up until it was time for his nap, we spent the ENTIRE DAY OUTSIDE. It went a little something like this:

8:00 - Hop in the car, picnic breakfast in tow, drive to the park
8:05 - Arrive at park, greeted by furry dog park patrons
8:07 - Set up breakfast on a picnic table by the play structure
8:10 - Lose breakfast to a sneaky golden lab who jumped up on the table and made off like a bandit with our bagels
8:11 - Move to a different picnic table, finish breakfast
8:30 - Play on the slide and watch the doggies
8:45 - Back into car, head to watch our friend coach baseball
9:00 - Arrive at field, watch game, hang with Coach in the dugout
10:30 - Head back home to pick up Daddy for a picnic lunch
10:45 - Collapse on couch, suck thumb, watch Backyardigans
11:00 - Head to Castle Rock Park for more outdoor adventures
11:15 - Picnic lunch in an open field
11:50 - Run around the park, climb hills with Daddy
12:40 - Head back home for a much needed nap

Doesn't that sound delightful? It absolutely was. And here are the pics to prove it (minus the early morning breakfast picnic with the doggies... too busy defending our food to snap any shots!):










Good riddance, rain. Thanks for making our hills so green... but really, you won't be missed.