Tuggy

I had a surprise waiting for you at home yesterday. Best part about surprises is the guessing game.

"What is it?" you asked me as we drove home to see it for the first time.

"I can't tell you," I replied. "But it's big."

"What is it?"

"It's blue. And you can fit inside it."

"Is it a tent?"

"No, but that's a good guess. And it is something that sits outside."

"What is it?"

"I still can't tell you. But I will tell you this: when you play with it, you get dirty!"

Oh, you were so excited!


As we pulled up, you spotted it from a distance. "A boat!" you cried.


This was exactly correct: Tuggy the Tugboat, to be precise. A wonderful sandbox for you to play in right on our back porch. Tuggy was a gift from five of our dearest friends: Mr. Curtis, Mrs. Dana, Kenton, Jaden, and Ashlann. It was so kind of them to think of you when they were looking for a new home for Tuggy. They even graciously drove it out to us all the way from Davenport on Monday. If that is not evidence of true friendship, what is?


You squealed with delight over your new Dora bucket and shovel, too.


Even Bella had to get a peek at what was going on inside Tuggy. She was impressed.


Right away you got to work declaring, "I'm going to make shovel cookies."


The recipe for shovel cookies: four parts sand, one part water. Let bake in sun for one minute. Enjoy.


Burying Daddy's feet.

We played outside in Tuggy for about an hour -- you even had your lunch while sitting inside her.

An epilogue to this story: yesterday was pretty hot yet again so both of us looked forward to cooling off at the Aquatic Center. We headed there shortly after the park opened at noon. You and I were getting in line to plunge down a slide together when we heard a voice call out:

"Tim!"

We turned around and there was Jaden, of all people! It turned out that he, Kenton, Ashlann, and Mrs. Dana had all just so happened to come out to the Aquatic Center for the day, too! What perfect timing -- you had a chance to tell them all "thank you" face-to-face for the wonderful gift. And then you were delighted to be able to play with Ashlann, one of your very best friends, together in the pool.

What a perfect day.

Daddy