The 2-year+ sabbatical ends!/Play date with Olivia

So....it has been a while. Okay, that is probably an understatement. I was talking to someone tonight who said they had checked out my blog. My blog...I had almost forgotten! I did blog once and it was rather fun and refreshing. Why did I stop? There is a scripture that states there is a time and season for everything. I guess these last few years I have focused my time elsewhere.

Now, I know that the chance is slim to none anyone will read this (my small readership - I'm sure - abandoned me LONG, LONG ago), but as I read over my last few posts it brought back memories that had been stored away in my mental filing cabinet. And now, I think it's time to fill a few more drawers!!

I will start with my play date with my niece, Olivia....

So every few months I take my nephew or one of my nieces out on a play date. Olivia (now three) is finally old enough to go. I called her up on Friday and asked if she would like to go to a park with me the next day. "Aslkjfalfjasfd!" is seriously what I heard her say, or something thereabouts.... Ummm... Then, I heard her mom say, "Say yes." "Yes." That was English I understood. Yay!

We went to Article Circle and had corn dogs, french fries, and water. (Water you ask? This is how that went down.."Would you like root beer?" I ventured. "Water." "Are you sure you don't want root beer?" "Water." Who ever heard of a kid passing up pop for water? She clarified, "You like root beer. I like water." Got it...water it is!) We ate lunch talking about how she was a duck "Quack! Quack!" and I was a snake "Hsssssss!" We talked about the color of the cars in the parking lot. Our ages. "I'm three." "I'm...." (I have to find a way to swear her to secrecy. Three year olds can keep secrets, right??) ...and of course how good corn dogs are. We then grabbed our complementary ice cream cones and were off to the park...or the Living Planet Aquarium to be exact.

We were excited to see sea horses, cool transparent jelly fish that changed color with the rotating light of their aquarium, Utah fish, ocean fish, nemo fish, dori fish, the octopus, killer frogs (you know the purple dart ones), turtles, sharkes, sting rays and penguins. The penguins were definitely the hit of the day for Olivia.

My favorite was watching how excited she was. She would run from one aquarium window to another. "Ohhh!" she would say. She especially liked the shark tank because they would swim right in front of her face. She ran back to it three times. It amazes me how fascinating things are for children. "Look at that one!" "Yellow!" "Rainbow!" "The frog is hiding.... Oh! There it is!" It was one exclamation after another. It seemed like pure happiness for both of us.

Then it came time to pet the sting rays. "Want to put your hand in the water?" "No." That sure didn't last very long. I put my hand in then she put in her two. She started splashing...the fun had really begun. The sting rays would swim toward the splashing but when they approached her hands, they instantly came out of the water. She wanted me to pet the sting rays, though. "Oh, you missed," she would say if I didn't get my hand in the water fast enough.

We stayed to see the feeding of the sting rays - people actually pay $6 to get a bowl full of shrimp to feed the sting rays. They put the shrimp between their fingers and put their hands up against the wall of the tank. The sting rays then flatten themselves against the wall, swim over the hands and eat the shrimp. I was riveted...waiting for a little kid to shreak "It ate my finger!!" No such action.... I guess humans aren't tasty, but oh the opportunity. A little nerve racking I would say.

By then I was holding Olivia and she was burying her head in my arm. She was fighting sleep. We stopped to say good-bye to the octopus, squished a few pennies - getting a penguin penny for a souvenir, and then home. Olivia fell asleep within minutes in the car...but she told me she loved me first. The BEST part of the day.

I took her home and stayed a bit. She gave me a hug and asked if she could go home with me. I sadly said no. She gave me a hug and went outside to play.

What a superb moment! I love my niece!!