Last week, we decided to take a mid-morning bike ride. I wanted to keep it simple and get out the door in under 30 minutes. Thus, I was delighted when my 6-year-old surprised us all by packing a snack while I got the bikes out and her little brothers ready (shoes, socks, has everyone gone to the bathroom?, let's get some sunscreen on those cheeks!, where are the helmets?).
She proudly presented two tidy plastic containers to me, filled with clementines and mint she pulled from the garden. Yes, mint. I paused a little, thinking, how satisfying will this be to gnaw on a pile of mint? But I didn't want to crush her enthusiasm (I was keeping this simple, right?), so we headed out the door.
After we had pedaled for awhile (maybe a mile...), we found some swings and good spot to have our snack. To my surprise, everyone snacked on the mint. We have little bits of it out of the garden often, but never really indulged in salad-like portions before. No one commented that it was unusual. Turned out it was a perfectly refreshing thing on an extremely hot and humid day. My daughter ate the 3 clementines almost entirely by herself. The remains of our snack are what you see in the photo.
I was happy that everyone had such a healthy snack, and that my daughter came up with it. Fun to see what the kids assemble as they get a little older. Nice work, Kate!
