Hammock Time

In my side yard, there's a hammock hidden by azalea bushes. At least there used to be. Today, my brother took down all of the bushes that had grown up around the hammock and even dug up the roots of the largest bushes so they wouldn't grow back again. He then put up a new-to-us hammock. It was a wonderful surprise to come home to.

An even better surprise though was seeing Sammy. He'd been gone since Friday visiting his Grandparents, but when I got home from work, he was home!!! I walked over to the hammock to check out what had been done, and Sammy followed. He wanted to get up in the hammock, so in we climbed.

For the first few minutes, he was snuggled up against me. Every time we slowed down, he'd ask to go higher and faster. One time I said, "I can't go any higher. I'm on my tippy toes." And that became the new standard. Every time we slowed down, it was time to go tippy-toe high. I'd hold him against the hammock until we were almost vertical. Every time he'd ask "Are you on your tippy toes, Annie?" I'd answer yes, but he'd lean over my arm and look, checking to make sure. Then on the count of three we'd fall back against the hammock and swing as high as we could.

Later, he turned side ways and laid with his head on my stomach. We looked up into the trees, talking about being monkeys swinging from the branches. Sammy decided he would be a medium sized orange monkey with a long tail.

It was a simple time spent reconnecting. We talked about nothing special. We just talked. Three year olds love to talk and ask questions. We covered monkeys, why trees grew, and how high airplanes fly. It was 30 minutes of laughing, giggling, and fun. I'm so glad he's home.