Bruises and Bugs

Today Bennett and I had absolutely nothing scheduled! We took off in the morning for a local playground that we haven't visited in a while. (Sidebar - there are so many public parks and playgrounds here! No way a kid could get bored . . . in the summer.) We ran into some members of our playgroup that we haven't met in person yet, but the boys played nicely together while the mom and I got to talk. Then, as the boys are chasing each other up and down this wheelchair ramp, we watched Bennett take a tumble. Landed with his face scraping down the metal railing. Ouchie!!!

He's got a pretty nice shiner, but it doesn't seem to bother him too much. He started rubbing at it before nap and bed time, so we gave him a little motrin to help reduce the sting. I haven't been able to get a very good picture of it because he runs away screaming, "No cheese!" when I pull out a camera. Stinker!

This afternoon, after a nice nap, we decided to "dig" in the backyard a little. Bennett loves to play in his sand table and we try to do it whenever the weather is nice. He has recently taken to pulling the seed pods off our Rose of Sharon, dismantling them and "planting" the seeds in his sand table. I'm anxious to see what becomes of them. I try to leave the top off the table for a while to see if the birds will find the seeds. . . no luck yet.

Anyway - as we're digging around and moving sand, Bennett noticed an ant in our midst. Daddy-o will be very proud to learn that Bennett watched it intently for a couple of minutes before picking it up to examine it more closely. He held it gently between his thumb and pointer, then transferred it to his other hand, letting it walk around and tickle him. He giggled before putting it down. Bennett went through that routine a couple of times before we decided it might be a good idea to put the ant back in the grass so she could find her family. What can I say, my boy loves dirt and bugs. :)