What We Did Today

Today was really nice - warm and sunny after what seems like weeks of cold and rain. We have seriously been wearing jackets around for the last couple of weeks. I am so ready to move back to the South!
This morning, Abram got dressed up and headed over to the college for graduation. Last year he was told he should have been there (although we were in Italy at the time), so he didn't want to miss it this year. His department chair saw him and excused him from the excitement - what a nice surprise!
After Abram got back home, we all went to a big yard sale where Abram found Rome: Total War, a computer game where you can go all over the Roman world and try to win territory for the empire. Owen purchased a small "cherry picker" bucket truck and a "character" (a little knight figurine).
We went by the new apartment complex and tried to have a picnic while we signed the new lease. Owen was more interested in running around the office than eating any of his (sometimes) favorite foods - prosciutto, smoked oysters, goat cheese, bananas, olives - ah, well, so much for that plan!
We made it to the theatre just as the previews were ending and the new film, Babies, was beginning (great timing!).
The film follows four babies from around the world - Namibia, Mongolia, Japan, and the US for about a year. There is no narration or subtitles - just scenes from the lives of the four families with their everyday conversation (most of which is, of course, not in English) and added music. The film is an ethnographic look into the lives of these children, and the filmmakers seem to have little else on their agenda than to show us these glimses. You are left to make your own judgements - or not - about what you see. I highly recommend seeing it and taking your kid(s). Owen (who couln't sit still at the rental office) did well watching and asking quiet questions for the better part of an hour. After that, he asked to go on a walk with Abram, and they checked out the shopping center and the new (to us) grocery store there. He wanted to know, "Mama, why don't they have to wear clothes?" about the people in Namibia. There was a bit of jealosy in his voice. Yesterday, he had to wear clothes around the house because there were window cleaners working outside all day; this was a source of some friction.
We went to a big park across from the theatre afterwards, and Owen chased three kids on bicycles. It was apparently lots of fun although he couldn't keep up on foot. He also dug in the mud, ran in the grass, finished the picnic (with our help), kicked the big ball, and picked flowers. When we arrived home, there were still WWII reenactors encamed across the street at the Historical Society; Abram and Owen had visited them briefly as they set up yesterday evening. We took a walk though their tents and looked at the guns, jeep, trucks, and medical equipmentbefore heading home for leftover cream of chicken, mushroom, and rice soup and Greek salad.
Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer and sunny.