A Map, Some Ducks, and a Pawpaw

It seems my almost 5 year old son has figured out to get the most mileage out of his cuteness possible. Yesterday, he drew a map, and told me it was how to get to a duckpond to feed the ducks. I caught on quickly, (don't let the messy hair and baby snot and baby food stained sweats fool you) and asked him if that's where we should go when I picked him up from preschool today. He very emphatically said yes, so today we loaded up the car with drinks (for us), stale chips and crackers (for the ducks), and headed out. First I surprised the kids with a stop to Little Caesar's, where I paid for a Hot and Ready entirely in change. They were glad to have the change, they assured me. We went to Spring Park, ate lunch, and fed the ducks. We also begrudgingly fed the obnoxious, overbearing geese.
My to do list was a mile long today, and we needed to be getting some schooling done. However, it was a beautiful day, and sitting out in the sun and wind holding my baby girl, while the other two played and had the best time, really made my day. Amazingly enough, we still got all the schoolwork done, as well as some of the things on my personal list. A break really does make you more productive.
I like observing people at the park. I noticed with sadness the little boy playing with my kids, whose parent only watched from the car, instead of engaging him. I watched with joy the grandfather playing with his two small granddaughters. A two year old, and a four year old I would guess. At first glance, as he was bent over talking to one of them, with a cigarette in his mouth, I first thought, "He shouldn't be doing that so close to those girls." He was obviously a farmer, or construction worker, etc. I know this by the varying degrees of color on his exposed parts. His legs were the lightest. The back of his neck was the darkest. My family is full of such tans. :) But then I saw him walking around the park proudly displaying a monogrammed bag covered in neon peace signs, playing with those girls, talking to them, stooping often to wipe the smallest one's nose, and I thought, "You know, you just can't judge people. You never know." He was the sweetest grandpa. Anyway, he made me smile, and we just had a wonderful day. Wanted to share.