Day 20: Springfield

Today was mine and Ron's first full day in Springfield. The kids have been enjoying themselves since Thursday, though, and seem to be fully settled at their grandparents' house. Elli is even being less picky about food than she has been over the past few weeks.

After sleeping in a bit and eating a leisurely breakfast, we decided to embark on a 13 mile round trip bike ride with all the kids to Skinner Butte, the site of Elli's ill-fated birthday party. Being back on my bike was simultaneously exhilarating and painful. I think Shelley, my sister-in-law, was equally sore after the ride, since neither one of us has done any significant riding lately. The kids had a grand time on the unique play structure at Skinner Butte and playing in the sand and water feature. Water trickled down from an artificial rock formation into a large sand/dirt area that covered replica fossils from different geologic eras in Eugene. Many dams were erected and destroyed and river meanderings manipulated in a short span of time. I was hardly the only adult shoveling sand to ford the river.

We finally returned home around 3 pm to make a late lunch. I was amazed that neither of my kids had a low blood sugar meltdown on the ride home. Jonah was a little extra weepy when he slammed too hard on his top tube, but he managed to recover and ride the rest of the way home. At dinner, Elli discovered a couple of new foods that she enjoys when she ate enchiladas filled with zucchini, green onions, and ricotta. Jonah would have enjoyed them, too, if he had closed his eyes and not seen the zucchini. He is convinced that he can taste zucchini (which is definitely not a plus in his book) no matter how small the pieces or how many other foods are present. He eventually ate the enchiladas once I removed all the "big" pieces of zucchini. He better figure out a way to eat them quick because they are going to make regular appearances at dinner now that he's officially outnumbered 3-1 in the enjoyment of zucchini department. My mom didn't stop cooking those frozen veggie medleys just because I wanted to vomit whenever a lima bean even passed under my nose, so he's going to have to endure zucchini. I guess you could call it the hazing of parenthood. I'm sure he'll exact his revenge on my grandkids someday and the cycle will continue.