Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Age Of Innocence (And Vivacity) :>

It was a beautiful, almost 70degF (if not actually that) day here today, so I booked it home to take Nui Nui to the park. She was so excited when I called her and asked if she wanted to go. Swings, playset (down the tall, windy slide), and wood chips galore. The girl loves sand, so it's no surprise she does wood chips too. Today, she also ventured on this balance thing after seeing a boy play on it.

I watched Nui Nui play with other children with envy— there was a large, after school group there. She's still gifted with the innocence of not being self-conscious and inhibited. For example, she saw these girls piling the chips so they could reach this high-up wheel and Nui Nui just ran up to them and joined in. She didn't know what they were doing but wanted to join in the wood-chip fun and play with them. They looked at her funny and said something to her but I was too far to hear.

In another instance, this little boy was scooping out sand from this bowl and Nui Nui started adding wood chips to it. The boy was not happy but Nui Nui had no clue. She thought she was helping or contributing, and playing together :> The boy, older, looked at me with darted eyes telling me I should do something. At his age, which Nui Nui is not far from reaching, he already lost that vivacity. I am not looking forward to that part of Nui Nui growing up.

This is another one of those situations where I could not decide and select just a few photos from our early evening in the park. Despite how blurry they are, I can't help but smile when looking at the ones where she in on the swing.

When was the last time you were that free and happy?