"the best laid plans..."

it has seemed that our last few weeks have been busy. we have plenty on our agenda and we have hardly had a day where we were completely care free.

well, today was one of those days. no real plans, nothing on the docket. and the weather was absolutely glorious. so, with that, i thought i had come up with the perfect plan. i thought it would be brilliant to take a picnic to a nearby pond and eat lunch and feed the ducks.

lily and i talked about it with eager anticipation all morning and she could hardly wait for finn to get up from his nap so we could head outdoors for our adventure. she kept speculating what food she thought they would most enjoy and was truly excited.

so, we arrive. we set up camp. we start to throw some stale chex into the pond. a duck swims over. she is thrilled. suddenly, ducks are coming out of the woodwork. i am thrilled. we are going to get some great action. i am throwing fistfuls of food into the water and finn is squealing and shimmying with joy... and lily has begun to throw a singular chex into the water and then dart back to our blanket in retreat.

this goes on for a few minutes. the chief and i thoroughly enjoying every moment and lily is becoming more and more tentative as the numbers amass. and then it all falls apart...

one little duck has decided that he will come up onto the grass in search of deliciousness. and lily goes from tentative to petrified. she starts screaming and is truly scared. i try to reason with her, but to no avail. frustration mounts for me, but i realize we are making a scene. so, we move our blankets far far away from the ducks and decide we are done feeding them and will just enjoy our picnic.

well, the ducks are far away, but lily keeps a watchful eye on those suckers. wouldn't you know, one pesky duck decides he would like to sun himself in the grass on our new side of the bank. full on panic ensues. you would have thought a pride of lions had surrounded us (or that i was torturing my child). for fear of child protective services being called, i hastily packed our stuff up and poor finn's lunch was cut quite short.

as i was putting them in the car and lily was crying because she was sure the duck was going to "get in the car and hit her" (with what hand i asked??), i was trying not to be mad that my lovely plan of an idyllic picnic by the pond had been ruined. i must admit i was a little short with her.

but, then, i remembered one time in florida that we had been feeding the ducks off of our deck and one of us had left the sliding door open. suddenly our deck was teeming with ducks and before we knew it those bold little guys waddled right on into our living room and created a ruckus and left poop everywhere. and i admit... i was scared. so, maybe her fear isn't so irrational after all??

but it had just seemed like such a good idea...





maybe they do look a bit aggressive after all??

(note: all pictures taken in first five minutes prior to all plans falling apart) :)