Childhood

Today was full of the kind of moments that I can best be described as classic childhood. Warren spent quite a bit of his time this morning climbing one of the trees in our meadow. He has been trying it out for a few days now, and every time he gets to a new branch, he is so proud. As I was bringing their lunch outside, I noticed Warren with a pillowcase clenched between his teeth, starting off up the tree. I said, "Warren, you can't take the pillowcase up the tree!" He replied, "But how else am I supposed to get my lunch up there to eat?" I saw his dilemma, and offered to pass it up to him once he was secure on his favorite branch.
Later he went a bit higher than he had before and couldn't get down alone. Stuck in a tree. How little boy is that? Abigail came running in frantically to get me saying, "Warren is scared mom, Warren is scared!" (I took her seriously enough that I didn't stop to get my camera, but if you go almost straight up over W's head, where it looks like the branch is touching the tree in this picture, that was where he was stuck) So I went out and gave him instructions of where he should step and how to maneuver to get down. He didn't seem completely convinced that I was acting in his best interest, and I finally said, "Warren--you have to trust me that I can see things you can't and that I am asking you to do what is best." After that, he was more compliant, and once he was in familiar territory he said confidently, "Okay, go away mom, I don't need you anymore now that the hard part is over." I could not miss the moral of the story; I wondered how often I do the same thing with my Father in Heaven, calling on Him in my hour of need, a little hesitant to follow when and where He directs, and then as soon as I am in familiar territory again, forgetting the help that brought me there.
Tree climbing lost it's allure for the day after that, and he and Abigail discovered a large snail in their sand bucket. After they got over their first instinct to kill it, they decided they wanted it as a pet. Um, I was not okay with having a snail in the house, so they spent the rest of the morning building a snail house for it. Here, Abigail is making a path for the snail playground that adjoined the house. This next video is Warren, and then Abigail, explaining the features of their snail house.


They really got into the whole affair; Warren later made a snail calendar in miniature for the house, and a sign saying, "No killing or stealing these snails." He also drew a picture of them being reunited with their families, since he assumed the snails were all lost from their mothers. He put the little snail in the "swimming pool" and said to me, "Mom, the little one isn't even drowning in the pool because I dumped the water out and just put my slobber in there." Sorry if that grosses you out, but really, you have to be laughing with me at the snail "swimming" in W's slobber. The next video is the Slug Merry-go-Round. It was too delightful and hilarious not to include. We've been saying how much we enjoy the carousels here in Paris, why not spread the joy?

After naps we went to the park for Warren to practice rollerblading--he did well. Abigail made "pea soup fog," as she called it, and carried the sand and water mixture around with her for about 30 minutes, making various culinary adjustments. She is such a domestic diva. It started to rain, and continued, so we headed home in the constant drizzle and spent the last few hours before dinner trying to not go crazy in our small apartment.
This last picture is actually from yesterday; a good friend here took it while we were waiting for Elder Uchtdorf to speak and then sent it to me. It made me so happy I had to include it.
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