Day Thirty-Nine: Happy Unicorn Day!

The kids decided today was Unicorn Day, and we were going to do whatever Taiya wanted. I woke up at my usual six a.m. to do some work, but since it has started getting light earlier, William has been waking up earlier, so I had a "helper" at six forty-five. I let him watch Blippi on YouTube while I finished up some work. If you have never seen Blippi before (I hadn't) I encourage you to watch it so you can see the kind of show that delights a five-year-old and makes a thirty-seven-year-old laugh-cry silently into her coffee. What I want to know is, how does that actor do all of that with a straight face? But seriously, thank you Blippi, for being sweet and goofy for little kids, and you have my admiration for how much you give yourself over to the part.

The day was overcast at first, but then the sun, the blessed, beautiful sun came out. The kids decided we needed to have a picnic for Unicorn Day, so when it was time for lunch I packed us sandwiches (a honey peanut butter sandwich for William, who decided to spend half the day as a honey badger, or as we called him, "Honey Badge"), apples, and almonds in a basket. Jeremy had an idea for a picnic location, so we drove up to the farm and ventured out, Daisy leading the way, to a beautiful spot in the woods.

Dino-y got to come on the picnic!

We had to tie Daisy's leash to a tree about ten feet away so she wouldn't eat all our food and destroy our picnic. She was not thrilled with this, but eventually calmed down. We sat and ate, enjoying the sun filtering through the leaves, trying to come up with an Anne-of-Green-Gables-ish name for the picnic spot. She names different places lush, romantic names: Barry's Pond, for example, becomes The Lake of Shining Waters. We weren't able to decide on anything, the kids rejecting my suggestions repeatedly (The Waving Woods of Green? No. The Forest of Loveliness? No. The Bower of Bending Oaks? No.), but it was a fun exercise.

After lunch, we wandered. I took lots of pictures of beautiful little discoveries. Taiya and William found cool trees and played a game of royalty and knights. Jeremy was exploring the old rock wall and what we think is an old foundation in the woods. It was sunny and breezy, and a lovely day to spend a couple hours outside. Forest bathing. Meandering. Rambling. Exploring. It was a welcome change from the day of Blahs.

Devil's urn fungus.

A rare tree horse.

A tiny fern among moss.

Whorls. 

When we headed back to the house we took a detour to see if we could see the neighbors pet peacocks, and we were successful. Why do they have peacocks wandering free around their yard? I have no idea. We spotted three males in their glorious blue feathers, and one female looking drab yet dignified. The owners were outside doing yard work, so we waved to them as we drove slowly by to admire their birds.

Peacock by the creative plow mailbox. Only in Arkansas?

In the afternoon, I was feeling worn down again. I have had so little time without the kids in my care this week for some reason, and I just needed some time to myself. I let the kids watch a few shows while I baked a small, simple cake for Unicorn Day. I found a wacky way of making frosting in The Fannie Farmer Baking Book. You take an egg white and a half cup of jelly (we had grape), and beat them together on a double-boiler until it stiffens, about five minutes. It sounded so crazy I had to try it. It turned an amazing shade of lavender, and tasted very sweet and grapey. I think it would be really good with blackberry jelly, maybe on a lemon cake. You should try this, just because it's so weird.

Lazy Daisy cake, with sprinkles added on top to make it
more unicorny. 

It's even more purple than the picture captures.

Jeremy took the kids outside and put up a tarp tent over their new platform. They had big plans to camp outside. I lay inside reading a book, ignoring messes, e-mails, people.

Dinner was easy - chicken thighs roasted with salt and rosemary, butternut squash mashed with butter, and rice. The unicorn cake was sweet, tasty, and hilarious. It was just so purple! The photos don't do it justice.

The kids watched a show, and then it was time for the big camping adventure. We went to the platform and lay blankets down beneath their sleeping bags. I read William two Gerald and Piggie books by Mo Willems, then read Taiya a chapter of Anne of Green Gables. William was getting scared of the idea of actually sleeping outside, since bears and wolves might be out in the woods, so we decided we would just lay outside and watch the stars come out, then go inside to sleep. We lay with our heads out from under the tarp and watched the brightest stars emerge first, then the smaller ones. A few bats flew over, then we saw two or three fireflies, high in the trees. Insects were singing their night song, and we breathed it all in. When everyone was getting droopy, we trooped back inside and settled into our beds, the fresh night air clinging to the blankets. Maybe we'll make it through a whole night outside later this spring.

Day Thirty-Nine was much better than Day Thirty-Eight. Taking time to just do nothing, as well as taking the time to do silly, spontaneous things like bake a cake with sprinkles and purple frosting, and lay outside and watch the stars come out, really helped. Also, the sun. The sun always helps.