30 Days of Thanks: Day 16

Today I am thankful for...family outings.

We took peanut to his first theater performance today. The hubby recently surprised me with a date night out to see a comedy show and, when he was buying tickets, he noticed that there was a live production of "Goodnight Moon" coming up. He snagged tickets right away.

The show was slated to last an hour with no intermission. I was slightly nervous about how peanut would handle sitting still for that long in the middle of his nap time, but was very excited for him to see his first live performance. The hubby had the forethought to purchase peanut his own seat even though, at two-years-old, he didn't require one.

We arrived about 10 minutes before show time. Peanut happily held his ticket and proudly handed it to the usher himself. We got settled in our seats - piling our coats behind peanut so he could sit up near the edge of the seat to see better. Once he got his bearings, he was having a grand old time kicking the cup holders on the back of the seats in front of us and I began to fear the worst.

But, when the lights went down and the music started and he recognized items on the set from the book, he was hooked. He sat completely still the whole time, staring at the action. After songs he clapped energetically. When it was over, he said "more!"

We decided to throw nap time to the wind* and went out for ice cream after. We all enjoyed our treat and peanut recounted his favorite parts of the show. His very favorite? "The moon talking."

I had a wonderful time, my heart bursting with joy at his excitement and pride at his good manners and excellent behavior. Whether it's a walk in the park, a special outing for lunch, watching the shuttle lift-off, or a play and ice cream, I cherish the time we spend experiencing things as a family.

To use peanut's favorite new phrase: "It is awesome!"




*Note: He IS napping. The excitement and the sugar must have caused a crash and he's out: "Good night light and the red balloon..."