Weather: A gorgeous day. Sunny, warm, breezy, and not at all humid.

In the Farmer's Market: Early sweet corn and the first Jersey tomatoes! Background courtesy of
Ace of Space

Ice Cream for Lunch

Tab needed to get some photo work done today so I took the boys out this morning to give him a quiet house in which to work and to give them an opportunity to run around in the beautiful weather. We drove to Washington Crossing and parked down by the Delaware and Raritan Canal. The tow path runs alongside the canal between it and the Delaware River from Trenton north to Frenchtown, about sixty miles away. The section of the tow path between Washington Crossing State Park and Lambertville is especially popular with pedestrians and cyclists. It's an easy, level trail and a pretty walk, lined with leafy trees.

The boys and I walked a half mile north along the tow path, stopping often to look for fish and frogs in the muddy canal waters. We saw plenty of fish--the canal is stocked with trout every spring--but no frogs today. We did see many dragonflies, some with startling coloration, which intrigued the boys. Several times Stephen leaned so far over the canal bank, I thought he'd tumble in. We reached a roadway bridge and crossed over, walking back along the grass on the other side of the canal. It was shadier over there, and I didn't have to worry about the boys getting hit by a cyclist.

We ambled along at a kid's pace, with lots of stopping to look in the water or to throw stones and count the ripples. It took us nearly forty minutes to do the mile round trip: aerobic exercise it is not.

We left the canal, and drove through the sleepy little town of Titusville, where American flags, remnants of last week's celebration, still adorned every lamppost. A wooden gazebo situated high on the bank overlooking the Delaware River had a few folding chairs in it and bore a handlettered sign that made me laugh: "Titusville Country Club," it read.

On the way back we stopped at a playground in Lawrenceville, where the boys ran around like demented things. Daniel crossed hand over hand along the monkey bars, swinging much like a little monkey himself, back and forth at least six time before he developed a blister on his right palm and reluctantly gave it up. We were the only ones there until a couple of older boys, perhaps 8 or 9, showed up. Then all five boys began playing a complicated imaginary game, which involved ships and seamonsters and grenades.

We left the playground close to 2 o'clock. Since we'd all had a big breakfast, instead of lunch I decided to treat the boys to ice cream. It's fun to do un-Mom-like things once in a while; just when they think they've got me figured out as a no-nonsense, strict parent, I rock their world by letting them have ice cream instead of a sensible meal. I like to keep them guessing. Then we returned home, where the twins took a long nap and Daniel went back to work to his latest K'nex building project.

All in all, it was a good day.

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