A wonderful walk, or a Wonderwalk!

Last Saturday morning we awoke bright and early to participate in a walk that was sponsored by a local church to raise money for mothers and children (I must admit that I am still unclear as to what I was collecting donations for). I volunteered to walk only because my Granny was the one to approach me about it and I just can't say NO to Granny. I would do anything for my Granny. Really. I would give her my left nut if she wanted it. Of course, I don't have a left nut to give her, but I don't see why she would want it anyway, when I can just raise money for her church by walking.

Now, I have to admit, a large amount of my decision was based on the free food they were providing. I'm a sucker for free food. Offer me a free granola bar and my heart is yours. Also, the walk was taking place through an area of Tampa that is aesthetically pleasing. Sidewalk by the bay, beautiful houses lining the streets, beautiful men out for their morning run without their shirts on.

It was quite a pleasant experience.

I had to place my distaste for early rising aside as we left the house that morning and drove into Tampa. We rallied inside the church for a free breakfast. Hello doughnuts, I love thee. And then proceeded into the sanctuary for a light service. My mother neglected to inform me of the light service and when I scrunched up my nose and declared my dissatisfaction for this she assured me that there would be no sermon preached, only singing. However, I wasn't able to enjoy most of the singing because from the moment our rears touched the pew, Brae was already chopping at the bit to get out of there. He started talking loudly after about 5 minutes and being the responsible mother that I am, I promptly whisked him away and carried him outside for a rousing game of church hide-and-go-seek. And I missed most of the singing. Darn.

The church was beautiful. This makes perfect sense as the houses and overall scenery down there is beautiful. Here is a picture of part of the outside.



I couldn't help but thinking this would be a lovely church to be married in. And then the part of my brain that has been dealing with all this divorce work slapped me right across the face and told me to bite my tongue.

After the singing was over we began the walk. Brae didn't make it far, he was tired
and cold.



Look at his little pale face. The color was not draining from his face because of a blistery cold wind or anything weather related. He is ALWAYS this color. I promise you. I gave birth to a ghost. A very vocal ghost.

During our walk, I was able to stumble upon THE HOUSE OF MY DREAMS!
No seriously, if I designed a house, I would be tempted to copy this house exactly.



Look at the adorable stripped window thingies! Look at the wee little shrubbery! I just love it. I just want it.



You can see how close to the water we were. Actually, it was a little unfortunate we were so close to the water because it was slightly chilly and the breeze off of the bay was really freaking cold.

After a mile or so Granny spun around and declared that she was heading back. She took the stroller and pushed back to the church to enjoy the warm building and free lunch.

But not us. Oh no. We came to walk. And walk we did. I'm unclear as to how far we made it, 10 bazillion miles seems about right, before mom had to pee. I tried to convince her that if she popped a squat in the middle of the sidewalk people would just assume she was homeless and it would be fine. But she didn't like this idea. So we headed back to our free lunch of BBQ chicken, cole slaw, hush puppies and baked beans. Only in the south would this lunch be served after a walk-a-thon.

After eating our southern (way too heavy) free lunch, Brae spied the playground. No playground can be un-touched by my child. He is like a dog marking his territory on every swing set available. So I watched as he frolicked outside for a while. I wasn't alone though, I had company.



This little guy and I had a very nice chat about the benefits of walking for a good cause (regardless of whether you know what that cause is) and the reward of a nice hearty lunch. When Brae and I left the playground I was tempted to snag him and give him a good home along side me. However, I refrained. I was at a church after all, and I think stealing is a pretty big 'no-no' in God's eyes and if there is one house I wouldn't pilfer from, it would be His.