Ah, The Sweet Minutiae Of Thursday. (Day Three)

Minutiae (min-oo-sha) has long been one of my favorite words. And expect this blog to chock-full and overflowing with it. But I won't apologize for it. I think it's the little things that happen between the janky circus visits that make life worthwhile. When my dad passed away in 2005, I found myself missing strange things: I didn't want to go on another trip to Disney World with him. I would have settled for lounging on the couch and watching CSI. Which, I should interject here, is a TV show with a theme Stella can recite.

So, day three started in the way I expect many of our summer days to start. With nothing. And I loved it. We lounged in bed for awhile, and then played in the basement before making a run to the local IGA to pick up some food and, more importantly, some lunch for Papa and Jeff. Stella loves to visit the boys in the field when they are working, so bringing them lunch is a good excuse to do just that. After a brief visit to the post office (where we spent twenty minutes running up and down the "really cool" ramp) we headed to the field and Stella presented the hard-working farmers with their lunch. Her own hard work was rewarded with a tractor ride with Papa. Barring a combine ride, this has long been one of her favorite activities. We used to joke that I took my first combine ride the day before I had Stella...and it was that excitement that made her decide it was time to get the heck out of dodge. Nothing has changed. She can spend hours upon hours riding in the combine with her Papa, and loving every second of it.

After our big farm trip, we came home and had lunch in Stel's "cabin." For Easter, Stella received an outdoor cottage to play in, which she immediately deemed her cabin/barn. Again, these are the things that exist in Papa and Jeffy's world of the farm...and I may have the only two year old girl around who would rather pretend she is working in the barn or frying fish in the cabin than living in a castle or playing mommy. I can dig that.

After a nice nap on a rainy afternoon, we played outside for a little bit. Stella has been waiting for the perfect rain so she could try out her fancy new frog umbrella. Although, she still needs some training on which way to hold it. It was much more fun to carry it upside down and "catch" all the rain. Stella also decided, afer an exhausting jaunt outside, that she needed to make some pudding (see below.) Another lesson was learned when I had to fight with her for five minutes to convince her to stir with the business end of the beater.

Dad made it home a little early and, despite the rain, cooked out a great dinner on the grill and we sat down to watch "The Wizard Of Oz." It amuses me that Stella has no idea how much of her summer will be taken over by this show, but I think she will love every second of it.

It also amuses (and bewilders) me that while Stella is remarkably unphased by the Wicked Witch...she seems unsettled by the munchkins. I can't say I blame her. She is also very intrigued by the Lion. So look out, Jesse Trieger...Gus Gordon might be giving you a run for your money this summer.