Sunday at Valley Green

This morning we went to Esther and Toby's daughter's baby naming. Tani wasn't sure he wanted to go but decided to give it a try. When we arrived the kiddush had been set up in the back which included three plates of cookies. He planted himself in front of one - reaching for a cookie I told him not until after the ceremony. He stayed in front of the cookies commenting "they smell so good". But didn't eat any until it was time. Melissa headed off on her retreat afterwards - we said goodbye to her and drove to Valley Green where Deborah and Levana were celebrating Deborah's birthday with a few friends and cake! Tani was interested in the cake, but when he got to the park was more interested in singing the Tom Chapin "Happy Birthday" song to Deborah and hanging out with Levana. A nice man gave out a piece of bread to each child and they happily threw it to the geese and ducks. We then had cake but Tani was not really interested. He'd had many cookies at the kiddush. We then took a walk down Forbidden Drive. Tani ran down the path and then climbed on the wooden fence to look over the Wissahickon creek. Levana joined him on the fence and they happily stood there taking in the beauty of the park. People needed to go and everyone left except the four of us - but then Levana was tired and hungry so they went home too. I had thought about trying to have brunch at the Valley Green Inn but decided against it as it's kind of fancy and there's no grilled cheese option for Mr. T. Tani played with the small pumpkin decorations on the steps - a two year old who looked exactly like Katie Aronson came up to play too with an adult I didn't recognize. Later, when Tani and I went to the snack bar for ice cream and french fries I saw Katie's Mom Beth and realized it was her after all. The line was long but Tani was patient. He sat on a picnic table and schmoozed with folks in line. By the time I was third in line Tani was ready for his ice cream - he had decided on a chocolate soft serve cone. A few minutes later he had his ice cream and we hung around waiting for the fries to be ready. Tani makes many people smile by his friendliness but this time by his chocolate face and hands and his enjoyment of the ice cream cone. I had two big napkins and used them both. When my fries were ready we both sat down and shared - Tani exclaiming how these were the best french fries and ice cream in the world! (I shared some of his ice cream.) When we were done Tani went to go check out a limosine that had pulled up with some wedding guests. Valley Green is often booked for weekend weddings. As the staff set up Tani chatted with them and checked out the limo. He actually got in line with the guests to climb into the limo - they all smiled. After the limo drove off two musicians were setting up - one with an electric guitar and the other a bass. Tani enjoyed watching them practice and the guitarist let him strum his guitar. Soon after a horse and carriage pulled up - it was to take the newly married couple off - Tani wanted to wait for the ceremony to be complete so he could watch it go. He got to pet the horse while we waited. After the bride and groom rode off down Forbidden Dr, it was time to go. We went home and Tani watched a video. I cleaned up the kitchen and made Tani a grilled cheese. He sat down for dinner and by the time he was almost finished with his grilled cheese, he had slumped onto me and fallen asleep. It was 6 pm. So much for the much needed bath. I better go to bed now as I suspect he will wake up early tomorrow. Stay tuned...