One of our most favorite family books to read is,
"Have You Filled a Bucket Today?" It talks about being kind to others, offering a visual way of understanding the concept of how your actions affect others. In the story, everyone carries around an invisible bucket that is constantly filled, or emptied, by themselves and/or people who surround them. The kids love it and we love the lessons taught.
Sometimes life's busyness allows us to forget the simple pleasures of being present and filling those buckets who are closest to us. Life certainly isn't just lined with cherry trees with fresh fruit waiting to be picked, but life is still good but it sometimes just takes a few moments to sit back and realize how good it is.
This past weekend we did just that ---we filled each other's buckets by the handfuls. We picked up our kids and saddled them with a weekend of fun with a mom and dad who were 100% attentive and living in the moment. It felt great.. So Really Good. After a lazy Saturday morning, we drove to the city Children's Museum and had a blast. Wanting to continue our day into the evening, we found the most kid centric restaurant we can think of..
The Rainforest Cafe ..where the Rylan was amazed we were eating in the rainforest with active storms without getting wet :). Makenna actively led a safari hunt to find every animal on her search list, crossing them off eagerly one by one. And to end the evening, Daddy decided to high tail it to a surprise dessert stop, illegally parking the car and leading the two littles inside to pick out their freshly made doughnut at
Firecakes. As they eagerly buckled back in their car seats with their larger than life doughnut, we drove home with a relatively and quite noticeable, quiet backseat. The beginning of the end to a wonderful day together.
With the sun shining brightly and the fall colors displaying their beautiful show, we woke up Sunday morning knowing that our to do lists can wait another day because nature was calling. We drove a half hour to
Cantigny where we were certain the colors would be prime..and it certainly didn't let us down. Walking the grounds, climbing the military tanks and the trees, and enjoying the vibrant colors made for a nice afternoon. There were so many moments when Scott and I looked at each other and thought, "man, our kids are cute" reminding ourselves how fortunate we are at hitting our own jackpot. "Daddy I love hanging out with you," said Rylan. And MC's just as cute statement, "mom, why does my shirt just say LOVE, it should say I LOVE MOM." Filling our buckets for sure...thanks kids.
And since you know photographs are the key to this momma's heart, here's a *few* from our day. :)
