Tater tots with my small fry

During weeks when its just Gavin and me I try and do something special. Some weeks its an evening trip to a nearby baseball field, or popsicles/ice cream before dinner, driving through the airport to watch planes, staying up later to watch a movie, visiting a weekday farmers market, or my personal favorite a trip to a local fast food burger joint for my comfort food of choice - french fries or tater tots. There is something about the perfect combination of grease, potato, and salt that truly brings me peace and calm.

Yesterday evening we did just that. We went to our local Sonic, which just so happens to be across a busy street from the airport. We sat outside, with our tots, a cherry limeade, an apple juice, and a hot dog that never really got eaten. Between mouthfuls we talked about the planes we saw coming and going. They were all just like "daddy's plane" and they were all going to work, just like daddy takes a plane to work. We saw cement trucks whizz by, flirted with the waitress, decided that ice cream was a great thing and that maybe if Gavin was good I'd let him a very small bowl when we got home. We talked about Texas, which always includes a side conversation about baseball and how much Gavin likes to play it. So thats what we did when we got home.

Don't let the pouty face confuse you. Gavin was thinking hard here. He climbed up into that chair, crossed his little fingers, furrowed his brow (another inherited-from-mom trait) and thought for a second before verifying that we were indeed waiting on tater tots. He then realized the airport was behind him and he could see better if he moved to a chair on the other side of the table, which he did. "Move to other chair, mommy? See better?" "Yes Gavin, I think that it is a good idea."



This is him scarfing down his tots.


This morning baseball was still on the brain. Instead of playing golf like we did yesterday morning we squeezed in about 15 minutes of batting practice. He can generally hit 1 out of 5 pitched balls.

Tonight we return to our regular routine. He'll feed the dogs. We'll have homecooked leftovers for dinner, spend some quality time in the yard, covered in bug spray. We'll play something that involves Gavin hitting or kicking a ball. We'll do some digging in what used to be our vegetable garden but is now his personal dirt box. He keeps his "massively powerful tractor" inside the dirt box, along with a shovel. Yes, he refers to his toy tractors as "massively powerful." We'll come in and do bathtime, followed by storytime, bedtime, and lullabyes. Bedtime might also include a bit of jumping-in-the-bed time, to expend that last bit of high energy. Gavin gives a trifecta of goodbyes if he is not completely asleep by the time I leave him at night. First we give kisses, then hugs, and then "big" high fives, followed by a "one more time" just for good measure. He also says "goodnight mom" and "I love you," which just makes me smile and melts my heart every time.