Tuesday with "the boys"

Betty and I went early in the am. to babysit Alex and Luke. The boys were eating their breakfast when we arrive. When they finish eating, it was time to play, and the basket of train track and Thomas toys were emptied on the carpet. Alex, who is 3 and 1/2 years spends time diligently putting the track together, while Luke plays with three of the cars, and keeps himself quite occupied pushing them in and out of one of the buildings that goes with the train set. They concentrate on their play, and I enjoyed watching them "work".

When Alex had the track built, we began our "trips" on the track, each of us with different engines and cars, watching out for each other at the crossings. Eventually, we added more track so we would have more interesting trips. We had our make believe trips, rescued the cars after accidents, sometimes with a helicopter (Harold) and Luke enjoyed participating, too.

Later in the morning we went for a walk to the shops in town, but first went to the train station, climbed the walk way above the tracks, and waited patiently for a commuter train to pass.
The boys know a lot about trains because their Dad is an avid train enthusiast. We didn't have long to wait, when the first train passed by. The driver waved to the boys as he went under the walk way. The boys were thrilled, and we decided to wait a bit longer. In a brief space of time, six trains passed and we waved to all of the them. Three of them responded with whistles acknowledging our waves. This was not just fun for the boys-- I thought it was fun, too!

Before going home, we stopped at the small park in town, and the boys enjoyed rides on the swings. Our day passed quickly, since there is never a dull moment when children are around.

Barre was gone for the day with a friend of Surrey's looking for pondweeds. He had a busy day, and was successful on his search. Surrey had the day for much needed rest.