Hannah and Liam

Hannah has become great friends with Liam, an almost 5-year-old who lives a few blocks south of us. They play together really sweetly, and since our schedules are similar and his mom and I get along well, we've been hanging out pretty much weekly for the last few months. This week we took advantage of Tuesday's warm, sunny weather and met at the Linkwood playground. I'd have loved to have gone on a hike somewhere but I pulled a muscle in my rib cage/back (I think the serratus anterior) and can't be on my feet for more than about 15 minutes at a time without encountering more back pain than I'm interested in enduring, so I suggested a spot with plenty of benches.

The great thing about Linkwood is that there's a ton of wide open space with trees, a trail, and a stream. Sometimes we get distracted throwing sticks and rocks in the stream and don't even make it all the way to the playground.  This time we beelined for the equipment and surrounding benches, but eventually they tired of the playground and we meandered around, playing hide-and-seek with Atticus in a giant pile of branches that had been cut from a tree and then traipsing around in the leaves and trees by the stream. I sat down when I could and then herded Hannah to the car when I couldn't take it anymore.

Back by the cars, Liam and Hannah used the wall as a balance beam and then sat down to rest together (or maybe inspect something? I actually have no clue what they're doing) having no idea how cute they looked from behind. Thanks to Liam's mom for sharing this photo and letting me post it publicly!!

Photo courtesy of Jeanne Stafford (Liam's mom)