Just the 3 of us...

Some days are perfect in their simplicity.

Today, we enjoyed each other. I snuck out early for a run and Daniel and Fernando got to sleep in a little. We took our time getting ready and eventually piled into our faithful blue minivan, heading towards our favorite breakfast place.

On the way, Fernando reached over to hold my hand. Daniel saw the gesture, and asked for my other hand. So there I was, twisted into a strange position but loving every minute of holding my boys hands.

We got to The Good Egg and only had to wait a moment for a table. Daniel's heart was fixed on chocolate milk, blueberry pancakes and scrambled eggs. While we waited for our food, he stacked jelly containers into tall towers, counting them over and over. When the food came, he prayed a sweet, long prayer involving the phrase "we don't say 'oh my gosh' we only say 'oh my goodness' or 'holy moly'..." (!) Then we ate and ate until we couldn't eat anymore.

On the way home, we had to stop at Toys R Us because I had left something there a few days back while shopping for church Christmas presents. It is possibly my least favorite store in the world, and I was planning on running in quickly while the boys waited in the car.

No such luck. Daniel had a potty emergency and he and Fernando came racing in at the speed of light, but managed to make it in time to the bathroom. And there was no way we were going to get Daniel out of there quickly after that... he wanted to see every toy on every shelf. His little voice would raise in excitement - "Oohhhhh!!! Look at THAT!" - with each new aisle.

His love/hate relationship continues with the giant dinosaur in the cage (the one where you can press the button to make it stomp and roar). He is terrified and enthralled but now also yells, "No push the button!" every time he sees any dinosaur toy. He loved all the alphabet puzzles, singing through the song with each new puzzle, entertaining everyone around us.

We headed home for a nap that didn't happen, and a trip to Urgent Care for Fernando that resulted in a strep throat diagnosis.

The evening ended quietly, all of us together, taking care of each other. A non-descript day in most ways... but perfect in it's simplicity.