Haircut and charcoal adventures

Jack and I made it on time to Dalere's Beauty Salon for Nana's haircut. Jack was a little shy and sat on my lap for a while. Marian is very sweet with him; first she gave Jessie a trim and later she trimmed Jack's bangs. Jack helps her sweep up my hair and does a thorough job.

When we got home, Jack ate half of my turkey and avocado sandwich and some of my pineapple, strawberries, and yogurt. He also had about a half of a mozzarelli stick. Not long after, Jack asked me to take off his diaper so he could poop on the potty. And he did! Now to make this a regular happening. My goodness but it makes things easier! We called Daddy and Mommie who each reported that they jumped up and down with delight.

Now it was time to go to the park. We'd been planning a long hike to the back of the park so we could look for the coyote. The weather was beautiful, perfect temperature, blue skies, gentle breezes. We stopped by the creek to listen carefully being very quiet so the coyote wouldn't be afraid. Several people came by and reported that they had not seen a coyote. We walked back past the school and across the bridge, through the little glen and over the long duckboard bridge. Jack got out of the stroller and we continued over the little bridge and into the trees. We climbed over rocks and around to where the path goes back towards the school. Birds and damselflies, but no coyote. We did encounter a four-year-old named Raidan and his nice mother. We walked back to the school with them and Jack decided we should go to the fire pit.

Soon, Jack and Raidan were exploring the fire pit and I was explaining what you could do with charcoal. Jack and Raidan tried drawing with the charcoal on the stones and on the nearby Eucalyptus logs. The charcoal crumbled easily, which the boys found interesting. Then Jack found a foot-long charred log and began using it to draw on the logs. He covered an entire log with black soot and started on another. Poor Raidan really wanted that foot-long log, but we were only able to find a thinner, smaller stick for him. But even it was enough for Raidan to get hands nearly as black as Jack's. Jack resembled a chimney sweeper, black hands, black face, charcoal on his new Gama-goo shirt and pajama top and his jeans. Fortunately, I had a box of moist wipes in the stroller and was able to clean up Raidan and Jack pretty well. Jack wanted to take his precious charred log home, so its now sitting next to the stroller downstairs.

We walked (and partly ran) with Raidan and his mom back to the Rec Center where they went off up hill to their car. They live on the 300 block of Chenery, next door to a little girl named Coco who will be a Billygoat this Fall.

Jack and I spent another hour or so in the sandbox, where Jack mostly dug, but also did some climbing and sliding. Jack did not want to leave and to some degree, neither did I. It really was an idylic afternoon in the park. We were in the shade most of the time and wore our hats most of the time. Tomorrow we'll look for the coyote again.