Also, it was sunny.
I must be living right.
I asked my progeny if they wanted to go to Seattle. We could have lunch with Adam and then go to the Pacific Science Center.
No and no. Granted, it was before breakfast and you shouldn't make requests before breakfast because people tend to be unenthusiastic about everything.
I am not above guilt trips though.
They are especially effective with Braeden. "So you don't love me?" I asked.
"Of course I do," he said.
"Then will you go with me?" I asked.
"Yes."
And that was that. Because how Braeden goes, so goes the nation. Emma and Mark were willing.
(I'm not proud of being manipulative but sometimes a girl has to do what a girl has to do.)
They got more eager for the trip once we hit the road. Emma was controlling the music, Braeden was reading the Iliad and stopping occasionally to discuss it with Mark. The sun was shining. Mt. Rainier knocked our socks off.
We picked up Adam on a street corner near his office and I (wisely) relinquished the wheel to him. (Back in angled parking? Are you kidding?) We ate at Zeeks Pizza, with a perfect view of the Space Needle in the sunshine. (Doesn't everything look better with a blue sky behind it?)
I handed around my phone for entertainment while we waited for our lunch.
You have no idea how much fun the combination of straws and condensation and instagram can be.
Braeden takes picture after picture on my phone of himself making faces. I think I know where he gets it from.
Sadly, Adam had to go back to work, but the rest of us went to the Pacific Science Center.
From the time Mark was mobile, Braeden has been worried about him getting hit by a car or abducted or both. He has very limited trust in my mothering capacity in such matters. As soon as we started on the walk of a couple of blocks to the Pacific Science Center, as usual Braeden turned into a border collie, shepherding Mark.
Since Braeden so thoroughly would take care of things, Mark decided to take the opportunity to walk with his eyes shut. (Why wouldn't he?)
There is something incredibly sweet about a sixteen-year-old letting his ten-year-old brother hang onto him while they walk.
What's kind of ironic about it is that when Braeden was ten, Mark was four and back then he thought he was the only thing keeping Mark safe too.
I wonder when Braeden will trust Mark to walk down a street?
At the Pacific Science Center, I gave Emma and Braeden the job of teaching Mark one thing. (You can take the teacher out of the classroom but you can't take the classroom out of the teacher.)
Lessons in planets:
And attention spans:
It helped when Mark had something to fiddle with during Emma's discourse:
We did everything there was to do except the gift shop was closed (and Mark remembered to bring some money! The travesty!) and Mark refused to go in the butterfly exhibit because he said it freaks him out. (Butterflies = scary?)
Emma beat me soundly (twice) at 3D tic tac toe (why do I even try?) while Braeden tried to keep Mark close by.
Finally, we packed it in and drove home. In the sunshine.
I wish my kids never had to go to school.
I wish it was sunny every day.
I guess I wish for summer.
3 comments:
Me too!! I'm so sick of snow and mud and snow and mud.
I hear you! Summer can't come fast enough. I used to spend as much time as possible in museums when I was a kid. They're so much fun, and you get to run around and play with things you don't have at home. I'm always confused when I meet a kid who doesn't love museums.
I am now convinced Mark is related to me. Butterflies FREAK me out!!! They are beautiful but freaky! (and I had a dream once that one wanted to eat me... It was a massive butterfly... I've never recovered).
Also, I love that Braeden is wearing a bright blue hoodie. Reminds me of when he was a baby and I was holding him in Seattle and the hobo said he looked like a "blueberry." (I haven't recovered from that either)
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