A Fun New Playground

We were clued into a new playground recently that I have to say I think is pretty awesome. It's got one of the best play structures I've seen at a playground in a long time. And it's not very big, so it's much easier to keep my eyes on the two littles ones. There's a small creek running behind it, which is a lot easier to deal with and less frightening than the big ole lakes around all the other parks that we normally frequent.

Sarah of course tried her hand at this 'moving' bridge. Her hand, along with her Daddy's hand. She LOVED this bridge though. She would jump on it and it would move and sway. She, of course, eschewed help here. I think she would spend the whole time here if she could.

It does have a downside, of course. Every time we've been there, there's been a group of teenagers hanging out, cussing and throwing mulch at each other. They don't hang around too long though once adults with preschoolers show up. The other downside is that it's fairly new, so not well-known, and so not too many people come during the day, and I don't like being by myself at the park with the girls. I feel safer in numbers. But we're going to keep going b/c it's just a GREAT playground and it's only about 5 minutes from home.

See, I'm not kidding. She really, really loved this bridge.

Charlotte had her favorites too. She loved climbing this thing, calling it 'The Castle" for reasons unknown. She also liked the big slide and climbing the various rope-type ladders the playground featured. Such great stuff for strength, balance and coordination.

Kitchen Camping

Charlotte instructed me to lay down in the kitchen on our patio furniture cushions (temporarily residing there). She then got us "sleeping bags" and we camped. I was told to "close your eyes and close your mouth," so I could properly sleep.

Going for the poses...

Backyard Playground Fun

We added wood chips (very mulchy) around the swingset this weekend. Wanted to create a soft landing for our girls, especially daredevil Sarah. Charlotte loves to play in the mulch. Where previously she has not been too enthused about playing outside, now it's, "I want to go outside and play in the mulch." Fine by me. Sarah is getting used to it. She wasn't too happy about it at first, but she's coming along.

Helping Out

Charlotte has taken an interest in helping out around here. A lot more than usual. She makes her own peanut butter sandwiches now, she butters her own bread. She helped me make a Quesadilla the other day. Considering she makes a huge number of messes every day, helping out is a nice change of pace.

Mommy's warm jacket

Charlotte likes to put on my red vest. She calls it my really warm jacket. It's good for practicing snapping.

Big Elmo

Charlotte wanted everyone to wear Michael's Elmo shirt. Sarah wasn't too happy about it.

Budding Photographer

Charlotte realllllllllly wants to use my camera to take pictures.

We've got a ways to go...

Banana-eating fairy

She is just too cute for words.

Scavenger Hunt

One of Charlotte's favorite things to do is go on what she calls a Scavenger Hunt. It's not really a true Scavenger Hunt - she's looking for cards with clues written on them for where to find the next card. I should work on something more elaborate for her...

Unfortunately my memory card filled up before she finished the hunt.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the special women in my life and my girls' lives.



We had a nice day. I won't tell you about the ant infestation that forced us to change our dinner plans here and go out to eat on one of the busiest restaurant days of the year.

I will tell you that we are shocked we got reservations, the meal was delicious, both girls were angels, and the day was Darn Near Perfect (ants not included).

Mother's Day Tea

Moms and Grandmas were invited to a special Mother's Day Tea at Charlotte's preschool class. Me and Grandma Bridget went. There was singing and stories and dancing and brownies and lemonade.

We had a fabulous time!

Box Swifferer

Sarah is our little cleaner. Whenever she makes a mess, she goes and gets a towel and wipes up the floor. It's impressive really.

We have a big box in our living room from buying a piece of furniture. She seemed to think it needed some Swiffer action.