The date was February second; we were on a mission.
Weeks earlier Evy had told me she would like to see the groundhog on groundhog's day. February first I'd tucked Evy into bed with the promise of a morning excursion to Mr. Groundhog's den. Afterall, we must find out the future of winter and spring. Howell Nature Center has a wonderful groundhog celebration, and best of all...it's FREE! The info said you've got to be there by 8am--tricky for the schoeb family doddlers.
7am: I woke Evy up and we started to get ready. I was feeling good. We were all hustle and bustle and I was congratulating myself for being such a good mom. Look at me making the ordinary special. This is just the kind of parent I dream of being.
7:35: I press down the growing desire to get rushed and stressed. I'm Cool Mom. I'm Go With the Flow Mom. What does it matter if we're 5 minutes late? It's the whole experience. Still, I urge Evy to hurry through her breakfast.
7:50: I have the address in my head. We start to get hats and coats and mittens on. I know we'll be late. I keep reminding myself it's not a big deal if we're late. I want to remember this day as a good day. I'm Go With the Flow Mom. I'm Go With the Flow Mom.
We finally get into the car. I know I'm driving a bit fast, but we can still make it. We can still make it. (I'm still resisting the urge to be completely "Plan A," can you tell?)How likely is EVERYTHING to hapen right at 8am, right?
I drive down the winding dirt road. I turn around, I curse GPS that doesn't work and keep driving.
8:17 We pull into the nature center just as 3 news trucks are pulling out. Go With the Flow Mom still showed outsite, but inside Never Quite Gets it Right Mom was having her way.
"Where's Woody, Mom?" Evy asked innocently, "She's not in her tree."
(They had this incredibly cute little display set up, but Woody seemed to have already made her appearance and returned from whence she came.)
We'd missed it. The whole thing. The newspaper reporters were getting final notes on thier stories and everyone was heading into a little lodge.
"Could I see Woody?" Evy asked a man in a nature center coat.
He smiled kindly and said he'd go get her. I was so relieved. We'd missed the whole thing, but Evy didn't know. She was contented to pet the groundhog as the very kind man told her that Woody had not, in fact, seen her shadow and spring was on it's way. We went into the lodge and had some juice and a donut. I silenced Never Quite Good Enough Mom with a cup of coffee and the promise of getting it right next year. Even late, we had a lot of fun.
And most importantly, SPRING IS ON IT'S WAY!
(I have tried to post a picture of Evy and Woody, but alas, I can't get it off my phone. Maybe later!)
Meet the Frog Liberation Front: Paige and Evy (and Henry.....and the dog we don't speak of). They went frong hunting at the pond a few days ago and came home with 28 frogs. We put them in the pool so they could have a swim before we returned them to their marshy homes.
Paige gets cosy with a mommy bullfrog.
2+2=4 funny friends.
Froggy love.
Henry was a very active (be it very excitable) member of the Frog Liberation Force.
This guy escaped from the yard, ran down to the park and swam across the pond to join the Force. (It must be noted, however, that frog catching dramatically declined with his brand of "help".)
Did I mention I love summer?
