Melting Heart

Yesterday we spent the day doing the things Gavin loves to do. We went for a drive to the German fishing ponds and he bought his own reel. It was raining and only 50* but you just can't wait for the best day of German weather or that day will never come. The ponds were clear and you could see hundreds of rainbow trout in schools in this small pond. He used corn which they love to nibble. Unfortunately, here the Germans require you to club the fish until it's dead and then cut it's heart. Seems less humane to me than letting it slowly suffocate in a bucket of water, but who am I to decide what is less heartless for a fish's last moments before it becomes dinner. In the end, after a few hours he caught 5 rainbow trout and we paid 18Euro for them and for the gutting of the fish to take home for dinner.

The rest of the afternoon, because the weather was so "German" we tried a new schwimmbad or indoor pool. It was full of what I imagine are the low to middle class Germans to put it nicely.  Turns out those low birthrates Germans supposedly have, well, they appear to conglomerate all at these pools on a rainy Saturday in the Black Forest. In addition, I dislike that people say our country is the fattest, I rarely see a skinny German. As I observed the people who joined us at the pool today for one example, I watched each human inhale beer, loads of fried foods, and the only thing children eat are french fries. Not a green thing on a plate.  Gavin doesn't notice though, he jumps from diving boards, rides the slides, and pretends to be an alligator all while we sit in some hot tubs, or rather pools of humans, and try to enjoy the people watching and the art of tattooing your entire body.

That night we got home and Shannon went out for a boys night. Gavin always asks if he can lie in bed with me and read.  Instead, he lay next to me and asked questions. He then got out of bed to write on a picture frame in our bedroom where Shannon and I leave each other "I love you because..." notes.  He wrote on the frame and showed it to me. It read, "I love you because you are worth a million stars."  As I said thank you, he said, "You are mom, your worth more than a million."  I am not sure what spurred this moment of sweetness, but he laid down next to me and quickly fell asleep.

When I told Shannon the next day, Shannon's reply, "That's my boy!"  If there were one trait that I hope Gavin carries on for his future wife, it is that.  The ability to find sweet, loving, things to say that make a lady's heart melt.