After winning various escapades such as this (and after enjoying a cup of coffee), we ventured on to St. Nicholas field where we planned to go on a little hike. However, once we arrived it just so happened that the Nature Centre was holding an "Apple Day"...so we went! Activities included: apple taste testing, apple juicing, face/hand painting (of an apple), apple painting crafts, and an apple peeling contest. Needless to say, we had loads of fun. It was a perfectly crisp, sunny autumn day, and celebrating this with apple festivities was such a wonderful surprise!
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| Crafts made using stencils (grapes, banana, carrot) and a halved apple |
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| Fresh squeezed apple juice--quite a nice way to end the day! |
Tonight, after stories and songs, Tyler began to process the day's events:
Tyler: "Excuse me, Mommy?"
Me: "Yes?"
Tyler: "What is an apple day?"
Hmmm...good question. I tried to explain by reviewing the events we did that day and added a short bit on local farmers growing apples and wanting to share them with everyone.
It seemed to satisfy his curiosity until a little while later when he leaned in to me and whispered, "Mommy, can you believe that we went to a real Apple Day? Do you think there will be a Banana Day or an Orange Day or a Grape Day?"
And this question started a thought bubble in his mind that expanded beyond fruit: "Maybe, there could be a Princess Day and then we could get a princess painted on our hand. Or there could be a People Day and we could get a face painted on our hand. Or how about this one? We could have a Spiderman Day and we could get (take a wild guess...) Spiderman painted on our hand. But this one would last forever and ever. Because instead of paint we would use crayons."
It is this type of moment that makes me treasure the minds of little people. I love hearing them process outloud: the rationales, the brilliant and quirky ideas. It seems that the simplicity of an event such as the one this afternoon that we were so fortunate to stumble across offers an opportunity to create simple memories. And yet, it is the simple that so frequently leads to the magnificent and heart warming.
As Tyler lay in the bed asking his sweet questions and coming up with his "day" ideas, I was overwhelmed with gratitude and love for this son of mine.
So if anyone were to ask me now: is there anything sweeter than apple pie? I would have to answer "Yes!" though it would be with full acknowledgement that apples can most definitely help pave the way there.
