You can't always get what you want

“Is there going to be a playground there?”

That was the most pressing question on the way to the Nashoba Valley Winery on Friday. At least to Audrey’s 3-year-old, William.

We were on our way to meet up with four of the New England Mamas and their families for some apple picking and picnicking. Oh yeah, and wine.

I looked at my mom, who was driving. “I told him we were going apple picking with some new friends, but he’s stuck on the playground thing,” she said.

“Well, you’re going to get to play with a lot of kids,” I told him. “You can run around and pick apples with them. It’ll be so much fun!”

That was exciting enough for Audrey’s 2-year-old, Alex, who was sitting in his car seat next to William, munching on a donut. “Apples!” he screamed.

William wasn’t as impressed. “But is there a playground?”

I figured it would just be easiest to keep the possibility open, even though this would mean lying to my nephew.

“There might be a playground, William.”

That was all he needed. From that point on he, too, was excited about the trip.

So we arrived at Nashoba Valley Winery and met up with Mrs. Chicky and Chicky, and Fairly Odd Mother, her husband, mother-in-law and three children. (Of course, we called everyone by their real names at this point.)

We picked our McIntosh and Cortland apples. William and Alex took turns holding the bag as we filled it up with the fruit (and took a few bites here and there).

We took a self-guided tour of the wine shoppe (not to be confused with a plain old "shop"), marveling at the vast selection of tasty wines made from the delicious grapes and other fruits grown right on site.

We set up our little picnic at the tables overlooking the winery’s gorgeous land.

We noshed on yummy breadsticks and delicious Gouda cheese, also from the shoppe (between the three Pinks & Blues Girls, not one of us remembered to actually pack a lunch).

Sarah from In the Trenches of Mommyhood and Alex from Formula Fed and Flexible Parenting soon joined us. Sarah brought her three boyz and Alex brought her two boys.

All of the kids continued to run around and play together as the adults chatted and sipped wine.

When it was time for our little Pinks & Blues party to leave, William decided he was having too much fun playing, and didn’t want to go.

He cried the whole way to the car, even when we told him everyone else was leaving, too (which was yet another lie, since Sarah and Alex had just gotten there. That’s two lies if you’re keeping score).

As we drove away from the winery, William decided to believe the lie resigned himself to the fact that we were going home and sat quietly in the backseat, looking pensively out the car window.

“Didn’t we have fun today!?” I asked him. “We picked apples, played with new friends, ate some delicious cheese and breadsticks…” I waited for him to respond with some other fun events of the day.

He thought for a second. Really pondered.

Then he answered, “Yes, but you said there would be a playground.”

Touche, kid. Touche.

I guess Mick Jagger was right.