If you want to properly explore your neighborhood, take a child on a walk with you. If you want to take your experience to the next level, take three children with you. The weather was perfect this morning--it was the kind of day where you would feel guilty not being outside. Instead of taking this energetic bunch to a playground, I opted for a walk around the neighborhood. The girls brought their Stuffies, which were eventually stuffed with weeds and shoes, while Catcher brought his imagination. Because he's five and a-half, he started the walk in a disagreeable mood wondering why we weren't going to the park, but he ended up leading the group on a journey to Ritzy Estates (a reference from one of his books, Lawn to Lawn). It was a pretty cool adventure: there were jungles and secret passageways and fierce animals to avoid. There were also colorful flowers (or weeds) gathered straight from the gutter, and the piece de resistance was when Tillie picked up a piece of petrified dog poop and asked me "Is this dog poop?" True story.
