a day at the park

Yesterday dawned beautifully sunny and much cooler than the last several weeks so we decided to take advantage of the break in late summer's heat and venture to a park a little further from our house. After weeks and weeks of temperatures in the mid to upper 90s, we just soaked up the sun in the relatively cool 70s as we walked through trees and by lakes. It was truly one of the most relaxing park visits I can remember in recent history.

Finn came prepared this time with a basket for gathering his nature bounty. After our neighbor asked him to bring her a pinecone, he was wholly focused on gathering all the pinecones he could find.

Until he saw the frog, that is. We sang a few bars of What A Wild Tune while he rode the cement frog. Finn thought that to be great fun!

Until he saw the boats! As we passed by the lake, he noticed a few peddleboats out on the water and kept pointing at each of them. You should have seen his look of sheer joy when we asked if he'd like to ride in one. What a thrilling day!

And then a Canadian goose jumped onto our boat with us! I must admit I was a wee bit nervous that the goose might not be visiting as a friendly gesture, but Finn thought he just came on board for a brief ride. The goose left as calmly as he arrived so all was well.

We then made our way to a shady picnic spot and counted pinecones while Daddy fetched the food for our picnic.

What a lovely picnic of sandwiches, apples and chips on our blanket under the shady trees. I think every weekend should be like this!

And when we returned home, Finn excitedly ran next door to surprise our neighbor with, not one, but a whole basket of pinecones for her kitchen table.

A perfect ending to a perfect late summer day.