The Best Kind of Day

Today's Fun Jar didn't go as planned. I didn't count on torrential rain mid-morning or the resultant sodden playground. I didn't plan to have to call a friend and say, "Don't drive across town. The playground's wet." Thankfully, I also didn't expect a friend who lives near the park to invite us to her home where my girls could play with her daughter - her home that is beautiful, with a functional kitchen and an amazing lack of plaster dust everywhere. The invitation was even more unexpected because this friend had never met my daughters before today and is a relatively new friend.

The planner (control freak?) in me loves it when a Fun Jar event goes exactly like I envision. When lots of people show up, old friends meet new friends, kids have fun and everyone goes home happy. But I must admit that the best Fun Jar days are the ones that don't go according to plan. The best days are the ones that hold surprises.

Surprises like...

sitting at a new friend's house sharing my heart and realizing on the drive home how safe I feel in her presence

A and K playing with my friend's daughter and her Littlest Pet Shop collection

B putting together a world puzzle when she tired of group play

K using a bowl with a straw attached for snack time and my sweet friend giving her one to take home to use for cereal tomorrow morning

bringing home three daughters who are pleased with their afternoon instead of disappointed that they missed out on the playground and Maggie Moo's

ending my afternoon thankful for my day.

I'm sure there are many lessons in this for me. But instead of listing them all out, I'm going to simply say that I'm thankful today was the best kind of day - one that didn't go according to plan.