Back to elementary school

Clifford the Big Red Bowl is piled high with tater tots and chicken nuggets in preparation for the walk to the elementary school on Sunday afternoon.

Like Jill always says, "the mark of true maturity is knowing when you can be immature."

Mara was planning to have a chicken nugget/tater tot night yesterday and bought family size bags of tater tots and chicken nuggets Saturday evening to prepare for it. The day was so nice I convinced her we should take them to the elementary school nearby because it has a swing set and a rope "spiderweb" you can climb. (It's like the Spider at Meadow Elementary except it's not made up of metal bars.) It's only three or four blocks from Wyview- a nice walk in weather like yesterday's.

It didn't turn out exactly like we planned because there were a ton of little kids with some adults already running around when we got there and we couldn't swing or even climb to the top of the spiderweb because there were too many kids. Mostly we just sat on the grass eating our chicken nuggets and tater tots and watched the little kids play, climb, swing and run. There was one little boy wearing a striped shirt that was showing off for us on the spiderweb that we affectionately named "Stripe Boy."

We probably stayed at the school for about an hour until I got a little cold in my shorts and T-shirt and begged everyone (aka Jill, Mara and Zach) to leave. Jill, who had long pants and a sweatshirt (AND a dog) on, said, "You should've brought a jacket." To which Mara, in her capris and short-sleeved shirt but curled up next to Zach, added, "I'M not complaining." Zach, in his long pants and long-sleeved shirt, said nothing.

I eventually won the argument when I laid my hand on Mara's arm to prove how cold I was and she jumped up and said, "Guys, she's not kidding. Let's go."

Go Mara. :)

Mara dips a chicken nugget in fry sauce (notice we brought two bottles) while Jill studies next to her. See the Spiderweb in the background? And Sugar, lying in front of Jill? And the back of Zach's head and ear? Yep, this is a quality picture, all right.

The contents of Clifford the Big Red Bowl are reduced by half after about 15 minutes of determined eating. The tater tots were my favorite.