A couple weeks ago, E and I went for a little walk. Being the second child, she never gets much time to do her own thing. We are always at the mercy of H’s schedule and I feel so bad about it. I’m sure many moms can relate when I say I spend about a tiny fraction of the energy I spent with H helping her and being with her. It sucks. It totally sucks. So every now and then – usually once or twice a week – I try to make sure she gets a morning where we spend time doing something fun and just for her. No laundry, no groceries, no errands – just a lovely morning in a park, the museum or playing at home. Anyways, for this particular trip we decided to explore Manito Park, particularly the Nishinomiya Tsutakawa Japanese Garden before it closed for the season.

I was all prepared with some good running shoes for her, my camera, and a baby carrier. We got out of the car and of course, it started pouring rain. But E didn’t seem to mind and I knew she’d have a fit if I tried to stuff her back in her car seat. She would much rather deal with the rain than sit in a car anymore. So we explored. We dipped toes into puddles, we played with fallen leaves, and we laughed at the ducks. It was a great morning. But she was pretty peeved I didn’t let her go swimming in the pond.

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