We had to take a year off due to the pandemic, but our extended family gathered again for a big family picnic. It was a beautiful day for it, with blue skies and big, fluffy white clouds.
In years past, we’ve had a couple games for the kids to play. This year we brought what we call ladder ball: you have a couple balls tethered to each other, which you throw to catch on a small stand with ladder-like rungs. (No one at the picnic knew what it’s really called either, so we’ll just go with “ladder ball.”)
My brother and his wife always bring their dog Blue Moon to the family picnic, but we also had an additional dog this year. (They did not get along so well because Blue Moon, a smaller dog, believes herself to be a larger, more intimidating one. XD) While we haven’t gotten any pets since Namine’s fish died — I am allergic to anything with fur — she loves other people’s animals like they were her own.
It has become something of an unspoken tradition for Namine to hold Blue Moon’s leash at the family picnic, so that’s exactly what she did. She also took the dog for a walk, but with as excitable as Blue is, it’s more like she took Namine for a walk.
The dogs weren’t the only animals there in the park, of course. At one point, I spied one particularly brazen chipmunk that kept trying to figure out how to get some of our food. (He never succeeded, but I have to admit that our taco bar must have been tantalizing.)
Namine observed something a little prettier than chipmunks — she spent a good chunk of her time at the park observing and chasing butterflies. At least one of them must have wanted to return the favor, as it alighted on her shirt. One of my uncles was able to get a picture, too.
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