A Pictureless Post

This morning, I took the girls to the museum. And I know most of you are probably muttering to yourself, "Surely she's not going to post MORE pictures of that sound room, or the animals, or the butterflies, or the dinosaurs, or the train..."

Well, you're in luck. Because this time, before we left for the museum, I made the very difficult decision to leave my camera at home.

I know. Crazy. Crazy that Amy Herman went on an outing without her camera. Intentionally. And also crazy that I'm so addicted to my camera that I would call this a "very difficult" decision. Deciding where to put your kids in school. Or whether or not to move closer to your family. Or figuring out if you want/need to keep working after having children. THOSE are tough decisions. Choosing to leave your camera at home? Not so much. For most people.

I must admit that part of the reason I made this choice is because I was solo with the girls. Had Dale been here, I probably would have lugged it along. But even still, I made a conscious decision that TODAY at the museum, I was going to spend my entire time just enjoying my girls. Playing, laughing, running, hiding, climbing, digging, dancing, building.

And you know what? We had just the absolute greatest time! While I had the stroller, it ended up carrying only the diaper bag most of the time. Because I let Macie walk everywhere. And I let her go as fast or as slow as she wanted, walking patiently beside her, holding her hand, from station to station. Ivie wanted to be in on the action, too, so she held Macie's other hand.

I didn't once say, "Ivie, smile!", or "Macie, look here!".

We were "just the girls", as Ivie says, out for a morning getaway alone. Ivie cooperated, and listened, and obeyed. She even understood and agreed wholeheartedly when I told her that we weren't going to ride the train today, because it would make Daddy sad that he missed it. And she said, "OK" when I told her that we wouldn't be able to eat lunch at the cafe today, because I had left my money at home. And the few times when I DID need to put Macie in the stroller, she hopped in agreeably. After 2 hours, we left for home. And, on our way, both girls happily munched on an apple and, most importantly, stayed awake so we could eat lunch before nap time.

Now, I'm not sure how much of this had to do with the fact that my camera stayed at home on the dining room table. But I can tell you one thing for certain...

The girls are both down for nap now. One is sleeping, one is "playing quietly until she gets tired". And, because I left my camera at home this morning, I don't have pictures to download, edit, and upload to the blog. So I think I'm going to take a nap, too. Or snuggle up in my blanket and read a book.

Ahhhhhh. Maybe I should do this more often. And maybe I should have saved this post for a Simplify Sunday!