Rainy Sunday

So often it seems my family is squabbling. We're a testy bunch, that's for sure. Someone's always short on something (sleep, food, patience) with predictable results. Usually it seems like a good idea to just stay home and spare the world our craziness.

This morning the boys got to attend a drawing class with their grandfather at the 3D Center of Art and Photography while The Princess, The Spouse, and I had some time together. We'd expected the boys to be engaged for longer and had planned a day of errands but once we picked up the boys we decided that maybe just hanging out would be better. We took the art supplies and knitting and headed for Extracto, claimed a table amongst the industrious hipsters glued to their iBooks, and settled in.

I always feel like taking our family out is such an event, even when everyone's on an even keel. I never know how long the peace will last or if we'll need to bolt, flushed with embarrassment as someone loses it and I mutter useful comments like "that's the last time we ever take you out again!".

But we did OK. We were all together but engaged in our own projects. A woman came in, unpacked her gear, took a look at us drawing and knitting and remarked to me how wonderful it was to see us. And, you know? It was pretty great. The Princess' drawing skills are improving by leaps and bounds, the boys were full of new ideas, and The Spouse managed a few nice sketches. I'm well into the second of my Embossed Leaves socks and, while the lace is no longer giving me fits, it does require some concentration. I'm not sure how long we were there, doing whatever it was we were doing, but it was a nice way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon.