Some solo parenting time

As you probably know, Aaron's in school right now. This semester he's had a class that meets on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings. This week was the last week of it. Yay!

This Friday, Maisie and I hit a favorite coffee shop/restaurant, Anodyne, for dinner. I had a beautiful large decaf latte and a yummy croque monsieur sandwich. Maisie had eaten dinner at home, so she stuck with ice cream. They serve Sebastian Joe's, a local ice cream, at Anodyne. Maisie chose a flavor called Pavarotti, banana ice cream with chocolate chips. She really enjoyed it!

Anodyne is really fun for us because it has a little kid-friendly area in the back, with a bucket of toys and a rocking chair that's just Maisie's size. While we were there two guys came and started setting up microphones and music stands right in front of us. Maisie was intrigued by the activity, and they were really nice about it - one let her strum his guitar, and the other gave her a yellow egg-shaped shaker to play with while we were there. The next morning I asked her to tell Aaron about what she saw at the restaurant. She told him there were animals there - monkeys, that were swinging upside down. She has a vivid imagination. No mention of the musicians, though.

Then on Saturday morning, Dylan came over and the three of us went to the Children's Museum.

One of Maisie's favorite books is Mo Willem's Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. If you haven't read it, it's hilarious - basically, the premise is that the bus driver has left briefly and has asked you to watch his bus while he's gone. He says, "remember, don't let the pigeon drive the bus!" Then the pigeon begs, pleads, cajoles, and throw fits trying to get you to say that yes, he can drive the bus. Maisie always says "I drive the bus!!" when we read it together. So I was not surprised that she really loved taking a turn behind the wheel!

Can't you just hear bus driver Maisie? "Exact change only, bud!"