My Day with Addie by Nana

(Addie and Nana (John Michael's mom) had a play day on May 6! Here is Nana's account of their fun time :))

To set the stage for today, Addie and I were talking about her kite being stuck in the tree. We discussed flying a kite in the soccer field but Nana didn’t have a kite. I asked her where she thought we could get a kite. She said “the kite store!” (of course – how stupid of me). Then I reminded her of Phillips Toy Store where we went at Christmas and her eyes lit up. Then I suggested we go there to do birthday shopping and she was more than agreeable to that.

I requested that I have a stroller and Addie to bring her Birthday Princess tiara.

We first go to Cheekwood. We tour the East Gardens, going through Turner Seasons Garden, Herb Garden, Carell Dogwood Garden, Howe Wildflower Garden, and the Burr Terrace Garden. We start in the stroller but Addie ends up walking/running most of the way – except up hills, of course. At our first stop was beautiful purple Japanese iris. I took a picture of her there. There were many photo opportunities. There were not too many plants blooming but the ones that were I identified for her. At some point she started pointing to plants and identifying them also (by making up names for them). So cute. She loved all the water features. When we got to the pond, we stopped and looked at all the critters. There was a mud turtle, many tadpoles, koi fish and a dragonfly that Addie pointed out. We heard a big bullfrog croaking. I told Addie that he was croaking “welcome Addie Leigh Corn to my pond.” She liked that. As we were moving on, Addie said, “Goodbye pond, goodbye Mr. Frog, goodbye Mr. Fish, goodbye Mr. Dragonfly, goodbye Mr. Turtle.”

As we arrive up the hill at our picnic spot, with a very serious look on her face she said, “Actually, I believe they were all girls.” I told her they may have been except I was sure the bullfrog was a boy. After some serious thought, she determined that the turtle was a boy, and one fish was a girl but 2 were boys and the dragonfly was a girl.

We spread a blanket on the side of a hill for our picnic. Addie takes off her shoes and rubs her feet in the grass. It was a beautiful day, bright blue sky, a great temperature and a slight breeze. The picnic lasted about an hour as we were discussing many important issues. Then it was time to be heading back to the car. As we’re going back Addie parts a plant with her hands and looks into it. I asked what she was looking for and she said Peter Rabbit. So we looked for Peter Rabbit in many more plants on the way back to the car.

On to Phillips Toy Mart. I don’t know if Addie had this calculated or not (I think so) but she steered left in the front door (away from the doll and Princess sections). We wandered up and down the aisles, watched the trains for a while and played with various toys throughout the store. She didn’t see anything she wanted for her birthday. We finally got to the doll section but there wasn’t one she wanted. She did want a stroller but I told her she already had one and can only push one at a time.

Next came the Princess section. She pointed out the Princess dress she got at Christmas. Next to it was a Snow White dress. She said, “Nana I would like this dress please.” I said of course you may have that dress. Then she said, “May I also have those red shoes?” Absolutely! Then she said “May I also have that crown?” How can you refuse when she asked so nicely and politely? Of course this dress was to stay at Nana and Papas house since she didn’t have one there. I went along with that one. We picked out a toy for Brother and checked out.

When we got home she was so excited, jumping up and down, to get her Snow White dress on. She of course looked like a fairy tale come true in it. We were watching a movie and after a while Addie said, “I think I would like to take this (dress) home.” I was certainly expecting this and gave her a minimal hard time but told her of course she could.

She requested I sit next to her and we snuggled together on the couch the rest of the afternoon.

Another day made in heaven for a Nana and her little girl!