26 lbs of CUTENESS

This weekend, I decided I needed to add some steps to my pedometer, so I told the kids we were going to the park! We got our shoes on and set off on foot towards the park in our neighborhood. It is not very far. The school is .6 of a mile away by foot and the park is about halfway to the school...so as you can see, it isn't very far.

For some reason, I thought it would be a great idea to let my toddler walk the whole way. She never wants to be in the stroller, I thought to myself...She will love the independence!! She ran full speed into the street as soon as I got her outside. So, of course, I had to get her back to the sidewalk. Then she saw some grass she thought was particularly interesting. Of course, I had to veer her back towards the sidewalk. Then she found a nice flower she thought looked pretty tasty, which I promptly told her to spit out. She did and ran away...the opposite way of the park. I chased her and got her headed back the correct way. Meanwhile, her big brother is already a speck on the horizon, having gotten so far ahead of us! I yelled to him to wait for us. Finally, we caught up to him. By this time, we had made it to the pond, at which I tortured both children by posing them on a cool looking tree for pictures. My daughter screamed in protest and threw her body from the tree onto the ground. My son just gave me a dirty look and said, "MOM...can't we go to the park yet?"

So, we moved on. We got to the park and the kids played for a while until they were both covered head to toe with dirt from the wood chips on the ground. We got on the sidewalk to head back home when it happened. My sweet baby girl tugged on my leg and held her arms up for me to hold her. I picked her up and carried her for a few feet, which caused me to lose my breath. I mean, you should know by now that I am hideously out of shape and rather overweight. I am not one to turn down a cheeseburger. I attempted to put her down, telling her, "Let's walk like a big girl!" She didn't care for that idea, so I carried all 26 pounds of her home. I was out of breath and sweating!!!

All I know is that if I didn't burn any calories from that, then the world is completely unjust!