Sunny Side Up

Last year the boys and I went on a walk almost every weekday morning. We would meet other moms and kids and walk around our complex four or five times, then the kids would play at the park for a while. It was nice. I miss it.

There are a few reasons we don't do it anymore. One is that our ringleader (hi friend, in case you're reading this post) has a fairly new baby. I know it's tough during that stage to be anywhere at a specific time because schedules are still being determined. It's even harder to organize your friends and neighbors into a walking group. No one else has volunteered to take over. Including me.

Another reason is that my very tall, first-born has outgrown my beautiful double stroller. The last time he rode in it he took great pleasure in sticking his feet between the seat and the footrest, acting as a human brake. We're afraid he's going to hurt himself, so Peter doesn't ride in the stroller anymore. The timing is good because the stroller will have a new occupant soon. But it's hard to go on a walk for exercise when I can't strap both boys in and go. I would have Peter ride his bike, but he's outgrown that too.

I think the final reason is that we went from winter to summer in the course of about a week. It's just now gotten nice enough to go walking.

Why am rambling on about walking? Well, we would go early enough that we wouldn't get burnt, but that much daily exposure sun-kissed our skin just the right amount. When we would go out in the afternoons, our chance of sunburn was greatly diminished, because we'd already had a little sun.

This is on my mind because yesterday the boys and I went on an almost two hour walk. We played at two different parks, bounced a ball, tossed a Frisbee, and all came home with sunburns. Even Cooper, who has Bryan's hard-to-burn complexion, is slightly more than sun-kissed pink. Peter is worse, I'm glowing. Maybe that's why pregnant women are said to have a glow, because some hormonal change makes them more susceptible to the hostile effects of the sun.

Or maybe I just burn easily.