Sunshine at the stick tent

Day 9 of 31 at TWT!

"We're going to the stick tent!" From her seat at my back, Rainbow Girl repeats this announcement every few minutes, either to herself, to me, or to the ups and downs of the bike path as I pedal along. 

My legs are out of practice! I find myself shifting up a gear more often than usual, and the park seems farther away than it did in the fall. 

"THERE'S the stick tent!" In my rearview mirror, her little outstretched finger points at the sweeping meadow in front of us as we get ready to cross the road into the metro park. 

"Well, we have to ride through the meadow and the woods to get to it, but yes, there's the park where the stick tent is!" I giggle, knowing that she'll start looking for it even more when we get into the woods.

Sure enough, as soon as the path starts to edge along the border of the woods, that little voice is in my ear again. "THERE'S the stick tent!" The pointing finger in my rearview mirror is back again, too. 

"There's some sticks and branches in the woods, yeah! But we have to go into the woods, back out in the meadow, and into the other woods before we get to the stick tent!" I knew this would happen because she did it in the fall too, but it's still funny. What I didn't expect was that she would repeat her declaration roughly every 30 seconds for the next 5 minutes. 

"THERE'S the stick tent!"

"Not yet, but we're getting closer!"

"THERE'S the stick tent!"

"We still have to go through the meadow and into the other woods!"

"THERE'S the stick tent!"

"It's getting closer!"

"THERE'S the stick tent!"

"THERE'S the stick tent!"

"THERE'S the stick tent!"

Apparently, one of our favorite pandemic activities is even more exciting when we haven't been able to ride our bikes to it for several months. We had tons of fun in the snow, but I've missed these rides, and obviously she has, too!

"THERE'S the stick tent!"

"THERE'S the stick tent!"

"Not quite, but it's coming!"

"NO, MOMMY! AAAH!" She's starting to get tired of me telling her that it's not here yet, and begins fussing.

"It's ok, we're really close now! We just have to turn down that path into those woods and we'll be there, honey bun! You're alright!" I pedal faster. 

"THERE'S the stick tent!"

"That's right! Here it is!" Thank goodness nobody else is using it! I coast to a stop, scoot the bike as close to the edge of the path as I can, and begin the precarious process of turning myself backwards on the bike to unstrap her from her seat. 

"THE STICK TENT! THE STICK TENT!" She stiffens her arms and legs in her signature expression of pure excitement. "Can I... GO IN IT?!" 

She hesitates at the dropoff from the path to the muddy-leafy ground, so I swing her over the muddiest part onto more solid dirt and leaves. She takes off toddle-running towards the much-anticipated stick tent in our park's huge natural play area. 

THERE'S THE STICK TENT!!!

I breathe in the earthy smell of the forest, relish the sun on my cheeks (it's so much brighter here than when the trees have their leaves!), and fill my heart and eyes with this little explorer under the towering trees. I know this is just a preview of spring and more colder, blustery, gray days are coming back soon, but it's just magnificent to have a taste of sunshine and bike rides. 

I can't help but think of The Beatles: "Here comes the sun, little darling..."