The Perfect Night

Tonight was just too perfect not to blog about. We enjoyed our first 70° day in over 7 months, which is reason enough to celebrate. The drive home was delightful. Windows down, radio blaring, finally some fresh air! 

It was decided that our evening would be spent outside, no matter what we were doing. We put on some tunes, grabbed Harper's new golf clubs and headed to the back yard. She enjoyed whipping the clubs around, it looked more like she was fencing than golfing. We showed her how to hit the ball, and she was successful a few times. She's no Annika Sorenstam, yet anyway. We have some time. 

Swinging is one of my favorite warm weather activities. When we bought this house, the adorable swing set in the backyard totally caught my eye. I envisioned my future kiddos playing outside in the backyard, and tonight that vision became a reality. Harper sat in her swing, played in the clubhouse - but her favorite part was the whirly slide. Up and down, up and down we went. Who knew watching a kid go down a slide could be so enjoyable? Her giggle and smile were infectious as Mitch helped her down the slide. If I could freeze that moment in time, I would have. It was perfect.

After playing outside, it was only fitting we continue our outdoorsy evening and eat dinner on the patio.  We wheeled the highchair outside, and enjoyed a nice dinner in the fresh air. Grilled burgers, fresh green beans and a cold beer - it doesn't get much better than that. I forgot how much I missed eating outside, as silly as that sounds.

After dinner we sat around for a while, and Mitch and Harper went off looking for birds. Yep, you read that correctly. Harper has a strange fascination with lil birdies, and loves looking for them every time we go outside. Watching her and Mitch walk hand in hand practically melted my heart. I'm a sap, I know. They were successful with their birdwatching, but Harper had a mini meltdown when they flew away. Trying to explain to a 1 year old that the birds will come back some other time is just a ridiculous as it sounds.

There were so many moments tonight, that I looked around and took mental snapshots. Harper running around in the backyard, just being a carefree 1 year old. Mitch holding her hand to look for birds. The giant smile on her face as she went down the slide. For whatever reason, I feel like tonight was special and one of those nights I will always remember. Several times I said to myself, "life is good."

Life is good people. Enjoy your weekend!

Until next time...
The Helleen's