While my lovely Grandma Betty has been visiting us from Florida, we have snuck over to my parents home and spent time talking, laughing, and watching Drew enjoy the precious rocking horse she and my Papa Toot (cute name, huh?) bought for him. But tonight we chose to go downtown Greenville and walk the streets, eat dinner, and enjoy spending time with family. Sweet Betty seemed to enjoy it all and she put up with our walking very fast and rushing here and there.
My Dad and Daniel talked through the history of buildings we kept passing and Mom and Betty kept a check on all the cute shops we passed (most were closed because it was a Monday night). It was such a great time spending time with Mom and Dad.
While eating at Bellacino’s, I attempted to keep Drew entertained with juice, snacks, toys, and books (I’d already fed him before we left). He really thought this ice cream toy was hilarious.
It was fascinating to see Drew’s absolute LOVE of being outside. I felt almost rebuked as I suddenly realized that my son is a nature baby and I haven’t really been giving him a chance to enjoy it all lately. The overwhelming heat has been the reason I haven’t been taking a daily walk with him (and um, I can tell because walking downtown tonight was more difficult than it should have been) but I need to creatively work around the heat and make sure he gets a bit of time outside each day.
I shared this thought with Mom and she encouraged me to start planning some creative/outdoor outlets for Drew (and me! and Daniel!). Hey, most of it can be free, right?
After dinner we walked down to Reedy River and on the way down the embankment, I stopped to take pictures of the beautiful flowers and greenery. I’d love to see the garden plans for the area. It is gorgeous and designed so well.
If you have been downtown Greenville, and walked on the Liberty Bridge, you have more than likely felt the slight swaying of the bridge. Betty kept squealing that the bridge should NOT be swaying and it took a please, please to get her to pose with Mom.
Drew LOVED being on the bridge and looking at the waterfall. He kept playing with the tiny ropes as though they were guitar strings (he spent quite a lot of time playing with Daniel’s guitar this afternoon).
There were a lot of animals in the park, too. I’ve been teaching Drew to say dog and when we saw lots of dogs, he tried his best to say DAH each time. These cutie pies were frisking all over the place and their walkers assured us that THEY were the ones actually being walked. I feel like that whenever I am holding Drew’s hand and he’s running as fast as he can. 😉
The leaves fascinated Drew. He kept checking all about for big leaves and when he’d find them he would bat them back and forth and shriek for joy.
While Drew played in the grass, a couple nearby (who had a PRECIOUS little boy) kept watching us and smiling. The father walked over finally and asked how old our son was and we started sharing thoughts on children walking early. Their son is 9 months old and as we told them that Drew started walking at TEN months old, they both shared a laugh and said they wondered if they were ready for that. Drew started leaning towards the little boy and whining so they got their son out and introduced him to Drew. It was hilarious to watch and Drew just LOVED it. He started quickly towards the little boy and I thought he might just love him to death so we tried to intervene but then he just wanted to play with his new friend’s stroller. 🙂 When we finally parted ways, Drew SOBBED as his new little friend left. Daniel had to take him down to the water and calm him down.
Another leaf helped too.
And when Grammy found THIS leaf, well, you can imagine. Drew was squealing with delight.
We then met a LOVELY family with a bundle of children. We were so enthralled with their large family (they had two others at home!) that we stopped to talk and take pictures. The children were precious and gathered around to see the pictures we took. I told the mother I’d email her the picture as soon as we got home. It was just another reminder of how wonderful it is to bump into folks in your community and really connect.
As we walked along, I discovered beautiful artwork along the sidewalks. It was so inspirational to see such art. It made me want to rush right home and paint, draw, or cut things out of paper. Instead, I’m curled up in the green chair, resting my feet. But hey, maybe I’ll cut things out of paper tomorrow.
On our way back to the car, we passed Bellacino’s again and we went in to get a drink to quench our thirst. While inside, I noticed the beautiful molding and asked the guy behind the counter about it. He told me it was original and took me around to show me how this cozy cafe used to be a pharmacy in the 1930’s. The original pharmacy drawers are still in the restaurant. We pulled them out and laughed at how times change.
So, it was a WONDERFUL evening and after my poor, sweet, darling husband’s day of constant stress, I was very grateful that we had the chance to get out of the house and relax with those we love most.