Enjoyed some near-solitude

Grandma had daughter 1 and daughter 2 for a while this afternoon so Little Miss E. (aka daughter 3) and I were on our own. She came to pick them up and take them to the park at 2:30 and told me she'd have them home by 5:00. Ahhh...the sweet bliss or near-aloneness. After all, I only had one child for a full two-and-a-half hours! And the one keeping me company doesn't actually TALK yet.

E. and I took the opportunity to take a brisk walk on the rail trail. It was gorgeous out there today - blue skies, a nice breeze, not too hot, not too cold. A nice early fall day (even though it's still summer)! We saw gobs and gobs of bikers out there today - singletons, families with kiddos on their own bikes, families with those tag-a-long bikes that attach to an adult bike, moms with babies in bike seats, small groups of two and three adults, a special needs adult on a modified bike with two "helpers" riding their bikes and providing verbal guidance as needed, and even a few parents walking alongside their bike riding preschoolers. It was a great day for bike ride apparently. But, I was happy to just walk along with the jog stroller in which E. became so lulled she seemed to fall into a bit of a trance and then drifted off to sleep for a bit. I enjoyed the quietness, the breeze, the lack of nannering from talkative-daughter 1 and talkative-daughter 2. I love them dearly but the constant "mom, this" and "mom, that" can really drag me down some days.

Along the way I think I came across a guy trying very hard (but rather unsuccessfully) to find a geocache. I passed him just before going into a tunnel that runs under a very busy main road through town. He was standing next to his bike on the grass by the side of the trail. The first time I saw him I assumed he was taking a short breather (he was an older gentleman - perhaps in his 60s if I had to guess). I nodded to him in greeting as I passed by. I walked on for another 10 minutes or so before turning around to head back toward my car. On the way back I passed through the tunnel and turned the corner to find the same guy standing on the opposite side of the trail from his bike and he appeared to be caressing the metal post of a trailside sign. Due to the sharp corner at that end of the tunnel he couldn't see me coming and I caught him unawares. I noticed a squarish bulge under his shirt (get your mind out of that gutter right now) that was easy to recognize as a handheld GPS unit. A-ha! You've been caught, sir! But, not by a muggle so your secret is safe with me. I was tempted to say something about the cache being a tough one but I wasn't completely sure of what he was doing (and I hope like heck he was geocaching because I can't think of any other innocent reason for feeling up a poor signpost like that and I don't even want to think of any other not-so-innocent reasons). When I got home I checked for a cache in that area and sure enough there is one right near there that is apparently not easy to find. Someone (who happens to be retired so he would fit the age group of the man I saw) did post that he attempted to find that cache today. It was listed as a DNF (did not find) which also points to the guy I saw fruitlessly groping the pole alongside the trail. Oh well - better luck next time, Bucky!

Oh, and seeing as I saw a lot of bikers out there today I have to talk about a pet peeve of mine. There is a big sign at the entrance to the trail that states that it is the LAW that children on bikes (12 and under) must wear helmets. Two things of note on today's walk that made me crazy. Number (1): parents of said children should ALWAYS wear helmets when they are biking for many reasons, not the least of which are to set a good example for the kiddos so they will continue to wear their helmets and see it as a natural fact of bike-riding but also to save their own freakin' thick skulls if they get into an accident. I guess you could say I am one of those who likes to err on the side of caution by wearing protective gear when life or limb (or brain!) is at stake - I wear a helmet when I ride a bike and I feel practically naked if I don't have a seatbelt on when I'm in a car. And number (2): this one is for the idiot parents who were riding bikes with their pre-adolescent son - get a clue (or two) and then go buy yourselves helmets (see Number 1) and while you are at it be sure to tell your son that you can't just stick the helmet on your head without strapping the damn thing and say a prayer that it will work. It's not gonna do that kid a damn bit of good just sitting on his head with the straps flapping in the breezes.

End of rant. I will now return to my regular programming.

So, after our nice walk, the babe and I headed over to the mall for some retail therapy. She was actually still happily snoozing and I figured I'd better not disturb her naptime. So I walked over and checked out a few stores while she finished her little sleep. Linens N Things had nothing of interest and there were no hugely compelling sale items at Old Navy. After getting through those store E. woke up and so it was time to motor home. Rick was going to be returning from his trip to pick up the swingset and the girls were due back home from Grandma's soon.

It was nice to get away and just chill for a couple of hours. I really needed that.

Rick's trip went as well as could be expected and the swingset jigsaw puzzle pieces are now in a big pile in the backyard. Hopefully soon he can find some time to put the pieces back together in roughly the way they need to be put together and we'll have a brand-new-to-us swingset for the girls to enjoy! Yay, Rick! Yay for us!