"This is my favorite playground!" Marcus shouts, dragging his dad onto the soft turf beneath the monkey bars. The crisp cool air blew through Mazie and I's hair as we walked along the pathway. She wasn't as eager to get to the playground as Marcus had been. Maybe because she and I ate more pizza than the two boys did combined.

"If you need to sit for a moment before you go and play, that is fine sweetie. I'm going to be sitting on this bench over here." I pointed toward a bench near the edge of the park. The same one I normally sat on when we were here.

Mazie reached up and grabbed my hand, walking slowly beside me. Her eyes danced across the park looking to see If there was anyone fun to play with. Humming a sweet little tune as she walked. Mazie was stunning, and the sweetest little girl to ever walk this planet. Our talk last night just made me realize that even more.

How did I get so lucky to have such wonderful children?

"I think I'm going to go play." She muttered, letting go of my hand before running to meet her brother and father. They were playing some version of a pirate ship with the large plastic boat. I pulled my phone out to snap a few photos of the three of them on the playground. Logan did say he hated coming back and seeing all that he missed, so maybe I should try to do better at catching the moments he doesn't miss.

"Hey, you watch it over there!" Logan shouts, ducking beneath the blue plastic as he takes another handful of the air. He pretends to chuck it over the side of the boat, before rushing to the back.

"We are taking fire!" Marcus shouts, trying to keep his eye on Logan. "We must protect the princess at all costs."

Mazie sat on the edge of the seat, pretending to act afraid of the sea monster. My heart grew three sizes watching the kids interact with one another and play with their father.

They really did have the best relationship and Logan knew how to jump in and be a part of their click better than I did. I always felt like an outsider.

I finally took my seat on the bench so I could get a better view of the three of them. They seemed to fit together so well. I never felt like I could just shift into that play mode. Even at the pizza place, all they wanted was their dad. I knew they knew he was going to be leaving soon, but I would be too to go and help Peter and his family out. They didn't seem to think they were going to miss me as much as they would Logan.

Maybe it's because I've never had to leave them before?

Maybe they just didn't care about me like they did their dad?

I never seemed to be as good as their father. I couldn't blame them too much though, he was so much cooler than me in everything that he would do. Maybe they were just a better judge of character than I thought they were.

Logan continued to run around the outside of the boat, the kids laughing and stomping around on top of it. Before long, Marcus decided he was done playing that game and jumped to another portion of the playground. That was typical Marcus, getting bored after only a few minutes.

They started running around the playground playing the regular game of tag. Logan dominated at the sport, hiding behind buildings and genuinely showing his stealth training. It was extremely unfair, but the kids loved every single second of it, almost standing still for him to tag them.

Finally, when it was Logan's turn to be tagged, he rushed over towards the picnic bench I was sitting at. Sliding across the seat in a bolt of lightning.

"Safe!" He shouted, holding his hands up in the air waiting for the children to run away.

They stood there.

Staring at their father that had just used the grimiest trick in the book.

Logan was breathing heavily from all of his running escapades. The kids seemed unphased. Maybe they were playing the game smarter than he was?

"Let me take a break and sit by your mom for a second. You two go and play on the playground for a little bit longer and then we will go and get ice cream." Logan did his best to get all the words out in one breath, but failed and had to take a large gulp of air. "How does that sound?"

"Great!" the kids shouted, and before long they were back off to the playground, running around like the little kids they are. Logan was finally safe.

"I don't know how they do that?" Logan sputtered, leaning against the table.

"They have crackhead energy."

"Or like the energizer bunny from those commercials." He responded.

Logan and I continued to watch the kids. Soaking in the silence of the space between us. It felt comforting to have him sitting next to me, even if it was on the other side of the picnic bench.

"Maybe it's the fact that we are getting old and pizza is our weakness now, causing us to slow down, bloat, and gain a few pounds just looking at it," I mentioned, tapping my stomach as if to add insult to injury. He turned to look at me, a cocky look on his face.

"I am not old." He feigned offense.

"Oh, get off your high horse. We are both getting old and you know it." I slapped his arm from across the table.

"You may be getting old, but I am aging like a fine wine. I just get better with age." Logan stood up, bowing, before sitting back down.

"Yeah, boys always do," I grumbled, biting my tongue. Now that wasn't fair.

Marcus and Mazie came running around the corner, looking at us frantically.

"Is it time for ice cream?" They both shouted. Logan and I looked at each other confused. Why did they think it was suddenly time.

"Uh, no..." Logan scratched his head. "Unless you are done playing for the day."

"We saw you stand up so we thought it was time to go." Now everyone looked around like they were confused.

"Well then I guess it's time." I added to the conversation in hopes that it would pick things back up and we wouldn't be stuck in this back and forth.

"Well, you heard the woman, let's go." Logan helped me grab a few of the things and we were on our way to our favorite ice cream shop.

~*~

It didn't take us long to get there, and that was one of the biggest reasons we loved this place. We could be anywhere in town, and this one always seemed to be close. On top of that, they had the best Ice cream options.

The kids eagerly picked a table while Logan, and I sat in line. Neither of us was willing to take our eyes off the kids for more than a few seconds.

"Do you know what you are getting?" I asked him. He wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me close to his body. A smirk was forming on his face as he looked up at the menu.

"I'm going to get the same thing I always get, especially if you can remember what that is." I nodded my head, walking up to the counter when it was our turn.

"I'll have a mint oreo milkshake, with extra Oreos, two mint ice cream cones, and he will have a blueberry marshmallow milkshake." It felt so natural to say the words. It also felt so long ago since I had last said them. I thought back to the day I had picked up the kids from school and instead of having dinner, I took them to get ice cream. It wasn't my finest moment as a parent but some days that's just what you needed. I was stressed out about Logan coming home soon and making sure I had everything done. Little did I know it would only be three days before I picked him up.

This seemed almost nostalgic in a sense. He was three days out from leaving us and here we were, getting ice cream once again. Maybe that was the magic number. I was going to have to get ice cream with the kids a few times while he was away so they wouldn't just associate it with the comings and going of their father. Or maybe they could have a cute thing to tell their children when they are older.

We took our seats next to the kids while we waited for our order to be called. Strange they didn't ask for a name this time.

Logan watched the counter eagerly. He seemed more excited than the actual children for his little piece of heaven. I couldn't help but smile to myself.

"One blueberry marshmallow milkshake, a mint oreo milkshake, and two mint cones." The college girl behind the counter shouted out before hitting a bell. Logan shot up from the seat faster than you could have imagined, rushing to the front of the room to grab his ice cream.

"Thank you." I heard him mutter before heading back to the table.

"This is what I've been waiting for." He took the biggest bite his spoon could manage, savoring every last flavor of his ice cream. I did the same with my very own, loving at the mint flavors danced across my tongue. I shouldn't have ordered the gross blueberry marshmallow milkshake the last time we were here. I should have just gotten what I know and love. I'd have to figure out a different way to honor Logan the next time we came.

"Thank you, momma," the kids muttered, thanking me for the ice cream cones that were now mostly on their faces.

"Hey, I grabbed them for you." Logan sputtered. Faking his annoyance.

"But momma is who says whether we can actually have ice cream or not. So you may have grabbed them, but she allowed us to enjoy them." Mazie said, pointing her finger in the air as if she had the worlds most profound thought.

"I didn't know your mother was a slave driver. No wonder she has you two whipped into shape." Logan teased.

"Momma has never whipped us!" Marcus shouts at an embarrassing level.

"Hey now, all of you settle down." I groaned, looking around the room to see if anyone else had noticed my six-year-old talking about whipping things.

The kids shot down in their seats, sitting as straight as a board. Both of them look up at Logan and wink at the same time. I swear the twins' brains were connected. All they ever did was do the same thing at the same time. It was kind of scary if you thought about it.

"Today was the best day!" Marcus shouts once more, and this time it didn't bother me as much, but I knew with the sugar they had just devoured, we needed to get out of here and to do it fast. Soon the kid would be bouncing all over the walls.

I started gathering our things, switching from the spoon to the straw in my drink.

"It's time to head home. We can't skip dinner this time," I said, not really sure if I meant it or not. At this point, I was just trying to be a responsible parent. I was still stuffed from all the pizza I had eaten earlier though.

We all gathered our things and were out the door in a jiffy. The kids buckled in the car and on our way home. These were the little moments that matter, and overall I felt like we made the most out of today.

Only one more full day left, though.