The Westport Playhouse is a local playhouse, and a major fundraiser occurred several years ago to save it that was spearheaded by then-resident Paul Newman. It now has some great productions in a great venue.
The boys had seen and enjoyed the movie (winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1957) so we thought they would enjoy the play also. It turned out to be a great family outing and I think it was great for the kids, particularly at this age, to experience story telling in a format other than DVDs on a television screen. Lev even said to me before the show had started that "this would be better if it was on television." (Why?) Well, they all enjoyed it tremendously with the boys laughing out loud on many occasions. Even Molloy was transfixed by it (well, the first half anyway before her mind started to wander). Daniel had a little trouble distinguishing all the characters at first because of costume and scene changes, but he figured it out as time went on. ("Dad, who is that? Is he a bad guy?")
After, we went to dinner at a family style Italian restaurant as a pseudo-Mother's Day dinner. At this point, Lev and Daniel started acting out, whining, behaving rudely, and fidgeting loudly with every possible thing. To the point when a frustrated Mom asked me, "When is Mother's Day going to be fun?"
"Ahhhh...", I answered. "There is something wrong with your premise. In order to have a Mother's Day, you have to have children. Therefore it would be impossible to ever have a fun Mother's Day."
So why was it that two separate tables next to us complimented our children for being so well behaved? They clearly were not paying attention closely!
On Sunday morning, I gave Kerrie a Mother's Day present that I would think any mother would appreciate greatly. I took her children away.
For some reason, the boys got it in their heads that they wanted to go fishing. So they went out in the yard and started digging for worms. A half hour later with a tool box filled with dirt and four worms no bigger than a thread hanging off your pajamas, they convinced me to take them. Daniel also was carrying a pail of water to put the fish in. I suggested to him that there is water in the river and maybe we could fill it up there rather than carry the heavy pail to the river. "What a great idea, Dad!" (Are they just setting me up to stroke my ego or is parenting really this easy?)
So while Molloy napped and Kerrie fluttered in her gardens, we grabbed a fishing pole we bought last summer for a single fishing expedition at Lev's day camp and marched down to the end of our street to the Mianus River Park. Lev carried the rod, Daniel carried the tool box and the plastic pail, while I strolled along with hands in my pockets whistling the theme song to The Andy Griffith Show.
(Daniel: "Maybe we'll catch a boot, I think that happens a lot.")
The park is at the end of our street and holds about 600 acres of trails. The river (which is more of a creek where it runs through the park) is about a mile and a half hike from the house. The recent rains made it difficult to find a calm spot in the river so I really didn't expect to catch any fish, which we didn't (in fact, if the river was quiet I would not have expected to catch any fish). Daniel did, however, catch the hook in a tree branch and I also had to rescue the pail in a fashion that resembled a carnival game when it somehow found itself floating away.
Lev Hunts for Fish and Daniel Catches his Bobber in a Tree
At one point, the boys were trying to maneuver a heavy log that rested along the shoreline. I asked Lev what they were doing and he said they were trying to push off and ride the log downstream to a big rock that was in the middle. He actually envisioned himself riding that log down the river! I, however, envisioned barrels going over Niagra Falls.
At one point, the boys were trying to maneuver a heavy log that rested along the shoreline. I asked Lev what they were doing and he said they were trying to push off and ride the log downstream to a big rock that was in the middle. He actually envisioned himself riding that log down the river! I, however, envisioned barrels going over Niagra Falls.
Lev's Attempted Flume Ride
It was finally time to come back, but now we had meandered farther up river and the walk was at least two miles home. Lev was fine, but Daniel had exhausted all his energy and his leg was bothering him and his shoes were squishy with his pants soaked up to the knees (from falling off the log). He trailed us all the way home like the proverbial weakest mountain climber who begs to just sit down and rest and he'll catch up with the group later, only to never be seen again. As we progressed toward home, he leaned on a walking stick, pulled his shirt half off, and complained that one leg must have absorbed all the water, whereas the other was fine. I now saw him as the delirous climber who casts off all his equipment, then starts removing his clothing one piece at a time, and then meanders into a blizzard wearing nothing but his glasses because he thought he heard an ice cream truck ringing its bell...only to never be seen again.
An hour later, we limped into base camp with daddy carrying the fishing pole, the tool box, and the plastic pail, and the boys trudging up the driveway with their hands in their pockets.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MOM.
It was finally time to come back, but now we had meandered farther up river and the walk was at least two miles home. Lev was fine, but Daniel had exhausted all his energy and his leg was bothering him and his shoes were squishy with his pants soaked up to the knees (from falling off the log). He trailed us all the way home like the proverbial weakest mountain climber who begs to just sit down and rest and he'll catch up with the group later, only to never be seen again. As we progressed toward home, he leaned on a walking stick, pulled his shirt half off, and complained that one leg must have absorbed all the water, whereas the other was fine. I now saw him as the delirous climber who casts off all his equipment, then starts removing his clothing one piece at a time, and then meanders into a blizzard wearing nothing but his glasses because he thought he heard an ice cream truck ringing its bell...only to never be seen again.
An hour later, we limped into base camp with daddy carrying the fishing pole, the tool box, and the plastic pail, and the boys trudging up the driveway with their hands in their pockets.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MOM.
