Skip to main content

Smelling bad means a good day

Did Cole have a good birthday? Yes. Yes he did. In our house, between the marathon and the biking and playing outside, being sweaty and needing a bath are usually signs of a good time.

And by the time Cole was finished with his birthday yesterday evening, he really, really needed a bath. I'd run 14 miles in the morning so by the time I came home it was nap time for him. So we decided to push all the fun to after lunch. But that gave me time to bake his cake so it would cool.

It was a late start to the arboretum but we still got in a good 2 hours before we decided to not push it. We'd managed to get him back in his stroller--lured by a snack--and he was happy. Better to go home exhausted but happy than do too much and go home cranky. He loves the Children's Garden. Though we did manage to take a fairly long hike to a special temporary section they have about treehouses. Cole was unimpressed and would rather just wander around on the trails and through the fields. You're allowed to bike and run here, too, so we're strongly considering this as our next membership instead of the zoo. Anyway, the Children's Garden is packed with twists and turns that have little interactive features, water, or play equipment. Cole just runs off and we try to keep up. And it's a struggle just to get him to stop and drink some water when he's thirsty. He plays hard.

On the way home, it was time for his favorite meal...a burrito with rice and black beans. When we came inside the house and put the brown bag on the counter he, literally, did a dance of joy. He ate most of Kelly's. Some of mine. And wanted more until we promised him there would be cake. Though the cake was actually the least favorite thing of the day for him. He thought it was just ok...he mostly played in it making smaller little globs of cake until it was time to get down out of the high chair. He enjoys the bath afterward more.

So judging by the cake-infested waters of our tub and the dirty line of little boy mud and sweat, he had a good birthday.