Jack's Definition of Bliss

As most parents probably (hopefully!) know, you don't have to spend a lot of money to keep little ones entertained. Examples:

Last year, I discovered that the local home improvement store is a fantastic place for Jack to run, explore, and be generally thrilled by the things he sees there (tractors, lumber, tools, tile samples, etc.). While visiting my parents last week, we went twice to Menards (DIY store) simply to look at all of the Christmas decorations. He was completely enamored, repeatedly gasping "WOW! How pretty! Beautiful!" He probably could have spent all day there, as the pictures below show:

Every week, following our trip to the library for preschool storytime, Jack and I stop outside to watch all of the construction equipment working on the below-ground parking garage that is being built next to the library. The construction has been going since spring and will last until at least next summer, so it provides us with ample opportunity to just stop and watch all of the work. Every once in a while, the librarian is even nice enough to take all of the kids up to the top floor of the library and let them look down out of the conference-room windows to see the seemingly miniature backhoes, bulldozers, dump trucks, and cement mixers nine stories below. (Side note: I never, in my life, noticed how many diggers are at work all over the city, the roads, the parks, etc. until Jack came into my life and became obsessed with them. Now, from time to time, I find myself alone in the car pointing and shouting "look, digger!" only to realize no one is with me. It seems construction vehicles are EVERYWHERE!)

Yesterday, I took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather to attempt some gardening in the front of our house. I didn't get very far as a) it's getting hard to bend over and b) the ground was too hard for me to do proper digging & bulb planting, but Jack had an absolutely fantastic time helping me gather up weeds and then carrying them over to the garbage bag. On every trip back to me, he'd puff up his chest, smile, and say to me "I'm a big, big helper!"