The afternoon was simply gorgeous today. Sunny, warm but not too warm, with a tiny bit of a breeze. Two of the three-year-olds started stacking up our little tree cookies to make towers, and then two four-year-old boys joined them to make a heap of tree bark behind it. I strolled up to admire their work.
Me: “That looks like a fortress.”
Little boy: “What’s a fortress?”
Me: “It’s like a castle. It’s really strong.”
Little boy: “Yeah. This is a fortress.”
Who are we kidding with all this secrecy? It was Elijah.
I told them that their fortress could really use some flags. I tore some paper into triangles and had one of the older boys find some long sticks. As we stuck them on, Elijah came to get the last one. He took his spindly stick with its paper triangle, looked at it for a moment, then raised it as high as he could and whispered, “Go, winners!”
I love that kid.