On General Conference Sunday, after Chris got back from watching the Priesthood session at the Stake Center, we went for a picnic as a family. The kids had been anxious to go roast hot dogs since we had been having such lovely weather for a few days already. They rode their bikes, Chris and I walked, and Alexandra got pushed in the stroller. She would have loved to ride her tricycle as well, but as she only pushes with her feet on the ground Flintstone-style, rather than using the pedals, it would have taken us 2 hours to get there.
I had the kids all bring light jackets, just in case, and we were happy to have them at the very end when the wind picked up. We also brought along sunglasses, and those definitely got used. It was a great day to be outside. At the fire pit, there is usually quite a bit of wood stacked up for people to use, but on this day, there was only one solitary branch. So we sent the kids scurrying around the nearby forest to look for any fallen branches we could burn. I had forgotten to bring any newspaper to help start the fire, and at first Chris was a bit flummoxed on how he was going to get the fire started without it. But then I discovered a whole bunch of paper in the pocket of the stroller. It was our self-guided tour pages from the Louvre! Perfect! There was just enough to get a really good fire going, and the kids were able to find enough sticks and twigs to cook our hot dogs.
As we were getting the fire started, guess who should come walking down the path but our downstairs neighbors. They were also on a family bike ride, it really was a gorgeous day. They went and found some more wood, and kept the fire going long enough to cook their sausages as well. They have a little girl, who is 8 and a boy who is 5. All the kids had a blast playing together, and I am happy to report that no one fell into the nearby swamp. I broke out the marshmallows and offered some to our Swiss friends. The mom wasn't so sure at first; she had heard of them, but had never tried them. She finally ended up taking two, just to try. I could tell Laura, the little girl, was disappointed that her mom wasn't taking more. Maya didn't want to take all my "specially imported marshmallows". I laughed and told her I had bought them at Aldi, here in Switzerland. She was a bit surprised, she had only seen the fruit flavored ones at the regular grocery store. Yuck!
By the time we got back home, the kids were starting to get pink cheeks from the sun, so it was good we were done outside. And we all had that delicious wood smoke scent in our hair until bathtime. I think that might be my favorite thing about cooking outside.
