Playground adventures

Last weekend I got to go to San Francisco with Quinn to visit my sister. The deal was that her and Jeff would buy Quinn and I tickets to the A's baseball game if we would babysit Sophie on Saturday night. For me, the trip to SF wouldn't have been complete without a night out with my niece. As for Quinn, he was going to be able to talk with Sister Dawson for mother's day, so regardless of the other things that were done on the trip, it was going to be a good trip for him.

Saturday night came along, and we decided to take Sophie to the park to play. Jeff gave us directions, we grabbed a kickball, a whiffle ball and the stroller and set out. We figured that the park would have a playground, but we apparently parked on the wrong side of the park, and all we saw was a field filled with high school kids dressed up for prom. We thought that would be a great place to play soccer with Sophie and so we set up shop. After seeing Sophie chase the ball around for awhile, I finally caught a glimpse of a slide, and so we starting making our way over to the playground.

After playing on the swing, the slide, and some silly game with a dime; Sophie ran over to those little springy toys. Realizing that description helps no one, I have attached a picture of what I consider to be a springy toy. Sophie somehow managed to get herself on the thing, whereupon she made her little grunting sound and pointed to the other one, located right in front of the one she was riding. Knowing that is her way of saying, "get on the springy toy Andy"; I quickly obliged.

Although the toy was somewhat uncomfortable to sit on, I found that being 165 pounds makes for a lot more exciting ride. If I threw my weight around I could literally bend the horse (I sadly did not have the opportunity to ride a locomotive) to the ground, both forwards and backwards. I was thoroughly enjoying myself, when I took a glance over at Sophie, who was holding on to the handle bars with her head thrown back, trying as hard as she could to mimic me. After throwing her head back, she would lean forward, and the little horse would give little ground to her weight. It was ridiculously cute, and I wish I somehow had better command of the English language to paint a better picture so you could get an idea of how adorable the scene was. But alas, I will rely more on your imagination than on my writing skills.

I love replaying that scene in my head, because just thinking of it makes me smile. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought about how amazing it is that Sophie was following my actions. I wasn't trying to get her to do it; I was actually lost in my little reality of being a rodeo star, and before I even realized it, she was copying what I was doing.

Examples can make a huge impact in our lives. I find it is easier to live up to my standards when I see other people living their own. I find it easier to study harder if those around me hit the books hard. If that's the case for me, then I am sure that if I can somehow learn to follow the admonition of Christ to be separate, and build my foundation upon Him, I will in some ways make living right easier for those around me. Then hopefully one day, as I am riding my springy horse, I will take a peek over at one of my friends and see them embracing the Gospel as I have tried to do.