No, really - he's there

You just have to look close, to my left at about the height of the chair beside me. Do you see his little blond head behind the umbrella pole? Well, he's there, I promise! This was a big date for Phin. He was out with four other women (besides mom) AND during his naptime. Lots of fun stuff happened. See below!


Lunch for Phin was pretty uneventful. He ate "creamy mushroom soup" (I thought I had ordered broccoli soup which he LOVES. Mushrooms aren't his most favorite thing ever...) and listened to chatter between women. There was a lot of talk about shoes and purses. :) Later, a cookie cake came to the table and Phin was IN BUSINESS! Since he was sitting by me, I was not really watching his cookie love until the women across the table gave me the heads up. At that point, I couldn't help but get a picture or two!



After the group picture OUTside, Phin found the flowers on the side of the wall. This picture is significant for a couple of reasons. The first is because of Phin's dad. When Dan and I were still just dating, I went on a treck with him to see his family in Iowa. At his grandmother's house, Dan's mom pointed out a picture of a small child smelling a red geranium. I asked who the little girl was - to find out it was my Dan...
The other reason is that Phin loves to "smell the flowers." Earlier in the spring, all of my peonies bloomed along our driveway. As every year, they were dark and light pink. The difference was that this year, there was a little boy who noticed. Every single time we were outside, he would want to touch the flowers and smell the flowers. One day, we even crossed the street to one of the neighbors houses (they were at work) to "smell" the tiger lillies. Even now in July - with the flowers long gone, Phin still grabs the left-over stems and smells... where the flower used to be? Every single morning.
He tries in the back yard with the marigolds too - though, they usually get plucked from their containers.
So, on this day, Phin got to stop and smell his flowers and I got to grab up the boyhood picture.




As always, he was not ready to leave but was still asleep just one mile from the restaurant.
Naptime came late, but his sleep was HARD.