bonding in unexpected ways

We spent time and a wee bit of money (grimace) on a bench swing for the backyard in the hopes that one or both of the children would spend more time outdoors than indoors this summer. Husband put the swing together (with the assistance of the yard light and a flashlight to examine the last few bolts) three nights ago.

La Petite brought Big Bunny, a.k.a. The Beast, to sit with us while El Grande and I were reading in the swing last night. Beast Bunny snuggled up to El Grande with front paws on his legs and big nose in the book. This wouldn't be a problem for most kids, but it meant that El Grande couldn't reach the Braille lines in that corner of the page, which made for all kinds of laughter. By now we had three people, a big Braille book, and a Big Bunny all gliding back and forth at once on the three-seater bench. Then we heard a loud Thump! from the rabbit hutch (rabbit equivalent of Morse Code), so La Petite gave in and brought Tiny out to join us. Tiny is not as mellow as the Beastie one, so we spent more time laughing and trying to hold onto the little bunny than we did relaxing. Eventually the Beast decided that exploring would be more fun than rubbing his twitchy nose in Braille dots, so he tried to jump down. We put both the bunnies away in their hutch for the evening, and El Grande and I kept on reading.
As we were reading and swinging gently, El Grande decided we should read outside until bedtime. That's easy for him to say -- he doesn't need light! Ah, well, I'm sure I can track down my little book light before the sun starts setting earlier.
The conclusion:
Swing + book + bunnies = simple family fun in the backyard

Stumble It!