Rachel and Mommy's adventure

I try to think of activities that Rachel and I can do when Drew is in Seattle. This week was no exception: on Monday we bought a birthday gift for her friend Devin, who is having a pool party for her birthday this Sunday. Then we got home, ate a quick dinner, I cleaned up, and then we walked to the playground down the street and Rachel showed me all the cool things she can do on the play structure. I got her home, washed and brushed, in bed, cuddled and a story told -- all by 9:30. Yay!

Last night we hung out in the park across the street from Rachel's preschool with her friend Sadie from school and Sadie's parents, Joe and Mims. Sadie and Rachel took turns climbing up the oblong concrete block that is at the heart of the park, and at my direction I told them to run an obstacle course -- touching the tree, the bench, the oblong block, etc. (it's a trick I picked up from another parent last week who I was trying to talk to, and she ended up sending her daughter and Rachel running around the park like bandits, trying to do what she said. Brilliant).

Sadie, Joe and Mims left soon after, and soon a couple drifted into view with a small group of friends. The woman had tattoos up and down her arm and was wearing a cream-colored, long dress that looked like a wedding dress. The guy was wearing jeans and a plaid shirt. An elderly man who I mistook for an officiant was wearing a tie and a nice shirt and pants. Their friends were dressed casually. It looked like everyone was there for a wedding.

Rachel and I discussed whether the woman was wearing a wedding dress or just a fancy dress.

"You ask her," I said.
"No, YOU ask her!" she said.
"No, YOU ask her!" I said back.
"I can't," Rachel protested. "I'm shy."

Turns out they were, in fact, getting married. They seemed delighted that we'd asked. "You can be our witnesses!" the bride said. Soon the officiant arrived, and Rachel and I sat a respectful distance from the couple as they exchanged their vows and rings. They kissed, the woman said, "we're married, everyone!", someone suggested celebrating, and Rachel and I quietly left. "We saw a WEDDING!" we kept telling each other last night. "Not everyone gets to see a wedding like that. Usually, you have to be invited."

The park is usually filled with questionable characters (read: skanky people) and I don't particularly like hanging out there, but I figure it's good for Rachel to be exposed to lots of different people and situations. It's safe, so as long as I keep my eye on her then there's no reason to be concerned. The bride last night looked as if she had gotten out of rehab and her groom didn't look like he was particularly prosperous, either.

But for just a few minutes, the park became a place of renewal for two people who looked as if they really needed it. "It's been a tough road," the elderly man said (he turned out to be the bride's father, not the officiant) and I thought how beautiful it was for two people, who looked like they'd had a hard life so far, had enough hope and faith in the rest of their lives to marry.

I'm glad Rachel got to see that.