Picnic(s)

After having our picnic at Solieil Hill yesterday, RJ wanted to have another picnic today. I asked him if he wanted to have a picnic in the backyard (I was hoping he'd say "no" -- as to why, give me a couple minutes.). "No. I want to picnic in the living room." So, I made PB&J for RJ and warmed up leftover chicken tortilla soup for me (weird picnic item, but it needed to be eaten), and we laid out a little playmat he has and had our picnic. Ryleigh had to be contained in the jumper so she wouldn't "eat the picnic blanket," per RJ.

The picnic only lasted about 5 minutes, then RJ wanted to move to the table. But, it was fun while it lasted.

This afternoon we headed to the playground. Shocking, I know. There were four other boys there. I'd guess two were in the 10-11 range and the other two were around 7-8. The younger set of boys were sharing a bag of Cheetos when a crow swooped in and managed to grab the bag from the boys. The crow dropped it right away, but spilled a few out of the bag. Well, that was an open invite for more crows to join the party. Then, the kites, known around here as seahawks, decided to crash the picnic. The boys thought it was pretty funny that birds were swooping and diving for the Cheetos. They started throwing Cheetos at the birds, essentially taunting them. I was less than amused. Then, the birds started swooping in closer to the young boys, the older boys, and my kids. I was over it. I asked the boys to stop because it was mean and because it was dangerous. I could picture the birds coming after a child simply because his fingers were covered in Cheetos dust. There have been a few bird attacks on the base that resulted in tetanus boosters--the kites in particular mean business. Anyway, the boys high-tailed it home. But, the birds had no intention of leaving. They kept dive bombing and fighting each other for Cheetos. The older boys nearly got caught in the crossfire. I recommended they take cover away from any morsels of cheesiness. They heeded my warning and waited under the slide until their mom called them home. RJ and I did our best to make noise and keep them away from us. But, they still got too close for comfort.

After our experience today, I think we'll just stick to our living room picnic--no crows, no kites.