The Frog Pond in Summer.

Well, it's about time we all had a good day. And it truly was idyllic.

It all started with the hub. He needed new clothes for work. Guess the ripped Perry Ellis pants and the frayed collars on his blue shirts just wasn't doing it for him any more. Macy's was having their fourth of July sale.

"So, you want to come?" he asked. We have always gone shopping for him together. It seems to bring good luck somehow. And now with the Impling, would the luck continue?

So we dressed quickly and were actually out the door and walking to the T stop before 9. This was truly astonishing.

The Impling has a massive love affair going with the T. We live very close to theGreen Line, and whenever it passes, she yells out in exitement as if she's seeing her best pal. So omigod her face when she realized we were actually going ON the train. We were a little nervous, as the wee one has had bouts of car sickness. So we brought along changes of clothes, lots of plastic bags and heavy duty wipes. We were ready. The T arrived with it's sparce early Saturday morning riders. So far so good. We found seats near the door. Even better. The Impling's eyes got rounder and rounder.

If you've seen Spirited Away, you know the scene I'm thinking of, and you know the joy with which the T ride commenced. She stared. She bounced. She gazed out the window and pointed wildly at things making awed baby sounds as she saw the trucks go by. Trucks, man. They are like unto gods or something.

So we made it all the way to Park St. and the Impling didn't get sick! We settled in a bench for a moment just to be sure. She bounced around waving at the trains in a frenzy. The little volcano was not going to erupt, it seemed. So up the stairs, into the heart of Boston.

Did you know? The cows have descended on Beantown. I think the herd started in Chicago, and have worked their way across the states. So one of the first things we saw as we emerged was a lifesize cow statue plastered with the MBTA map. Cute.


"Mbooooo!!!" yells the Impling. And we're off. The Hub gently steers us in the direction he believes Macy's is in. I gently turn him around and lead him in the opposite direction.
"Are you sure?"
"If you look down the street, luv, you'll see a Boston landmark. See that clock on the side of the building?"
"yeah"
"Filene's"
"oh."
"and there's Macy's"
"..."
"oh."

So we shop. The Hub finds shirts, and pants, and ties, and a new belt. I find two pairs of cropped lightweight pants for 20 bucks. Not bad. The Impling runs around and kisses her reflections in the mirrors. She stares at the mannequins. And tries more than once to take out an entire table of ties.

Next stop, the Common. The Frog Pond, to be precise. We make it there 10 minutes before it opens, so I get the Impling into her swimmie and the suit. She chased squirrels around until we heard the bells chime 11. So I rolled up my pant legs, and we stepped in. The first ten minutes or so we looked like this:

The Impling wasn't at all sure about this whole wading pool business. But she wasn't crying. She was nervous, but interested. So eventually, her face emerged from my legs and she looked around.
She decided this might actually turn into something she might like.








Then she remembered how to splash around.


















Things got much better. Then, in a glorious blast of white foam that brought back that feeling of awe and pure pleasure you generally only have as a child, the fountain came on. And that was it. We were hooked. It was the perfect day, and it wasn't even noon.

I'll give you one guess where we are going tomorrow.