The Perfect End to a Perfect Day

So, I was writing yesterday about how great our Tuesday morning had gone. Both kids slept for over 2 hours at the same time which is just absolutely unheard of. That 2 hour break energized me and once they both woke up, we loaded up the sand toys and headed straight for the park. It was 65 degrees without a cloud in the sky so it was the most picture perfect day we've had since we moved here. I was excited to get Maddie on the baby swing because I just knew she would love it. Jacob and I had a long conversation about his sand toys before we went into the park. He really wanted to bring them in but I made it very clear that if we brought them in, we were going to have to share them with all the other kids in the sandbox. This has been a major issue for us in the past so I had completely stopped bringing toys to the park at all. But, it was a new year -- and a beautiful day and I thought "we have to try again someday".

It's a good thing Jacob loves to swing. He always has. There were 2 baby swings right next to each other so Jacob hopped in one (although I think his baby swing days are limited. He looked ridiculous in that thing!) and I put Maddie in the other. The smile that broke out on Maddie's face was absolutely priceless. That baby girl literally grinned from ear to ear for the entire 45 minutes she was in there. She was giggling and screeching with joy. It makes me want to get a baby swing for our backyard!

The sandbox was next to the baby swings so when Jacob had had enough swinging, he said he wanted to play in the sand. I reminded him once more that the toys were for everyone to share. The next thing that happened was unbelievable. He went over to the plastic bag where the toys were, carried them in to the sandbox, dumped them all out in the sand and yelled "Hi everybody! Do you want to play with my sand toys?!" I nearly fell to the ground. I'm not joking. I think I may have cried tears of joy and shouted excitedly to the heavens. You really don't understand what a huge step this was. We've left countless parks in the past because he would throw fits in the sandbox when he couldn't have the toy he wanted because someone else was playing with it. Even if it wasn't a toy that we brought, he'd still be upset. The fact that they were our toys AND he was giving them freely to other kids was one of my prouder moments. I showered him with "good job" and "I am so proud of you" over and over again. So, I stood by and swung my grinning, giggling baby girl in the swing while watching Jacob play happily with his toys and the other kids in the most beautiful weather spring weather we've seen yet.

To end a perfect day, we met Daddy at "Fat Daddy's" for some yummy dinner on his way home from work. Man, I wish everyday could be like yesterday.

Do you think Maddie liked the swing? See pics and videos below!