A very wonderful evening

On Friday, September 7th Ginger had to work.  Several weeks prior, I had posted on our work website asking if anyone had spare apples which I could come and pick, and had received a response from a coworker.  She invited me and the triplets over to pick apples at her farm in Buffalo.  The children had previously seen an episode of Caillou in which the group of children go apple-picking, and so they were very excited at the idea of emulating that task.  I packed everything into the van (including a thermos of hot cocoa) and we drove over there.  The apples were exceptional in their quantity and quality, and the children informed me (many times over) that the better apples were on the tree, and that worms would eat the apples which fell to the ground.  They had a fun time gathering and picking apples, drinking the hot chocolate, and playing with my coworker's grandson.

At about 5:30 or so, we left and drove to Prairi Park in Otsego for a ward dessert social.  In recent months, MANY new families have moved into the ward, and this event was organized to provide an opportunity for those families to "get to know" others in the ward.  We were there from about 6:00 to 8:15, and I have never seen the children have so much fun.  It was gratifying to see how well they socialized with other children, and how confident they were in their play. 

Joel enjoyed rolling down a hill with a group of other children, and when they reached the bottom he looked at a little girl (about 4 - 5 years old) and said "hold my hand." To her credit, she did hold his hand, and pretty soon the entire little group was walking together in a line, holding hands.  A bit later on, Joel spent time with Brother Bryans using a back-hoe type contraption which dug sand.  Joel felt very proud of himself learning to use this device. 

Joel also found himself enjoying the company of another girl there at the party (maybe 6 or 7 years old), and when it was time to go, he looked visibly upset that he couldn't find "the girl" anymore.  I took his hand and we walked around until he identified her, and--once he had said goodbye to "the girl"--he happily departed.

Grace spent a lot of time with her friend Bella.  They pretended that it was essential to get to safety because of antagnostic animals including sharks, bears, lions, and monsters!  They ran around having a wonderful time.

Ella enjoys swinging, and was fortunate that Maggie (an older girl) was willing to spend a lot of time swinging her.  Ella also noticed a smaller girl (maybe 2 years old) who looked lonely, and Ella went over to comfort her. 

I spent my time just wandering around keeping "half an eye" on each of the children as they ran, played, and engaged in good interactions.  At the end of the night, they went home, received a much needed bath, and fell asleep afterwards in about 5 minutes.