Play Date At The Park

I got some good reading in this morning.  My body is so used to getting up at the same time everyday for work, that I can’t sleep in on Saturdays anymore.  UGH!  But, that was fine b/c I just got up and went and sat in my recliner and read Tiger’s Quest until Autumn woke up and came and gave me snuggles.  We had some breakfast, cleaned the house a little bit, and then hurried and got ready so we could leave for her play date.  We stopped at Little Caesar’s to get some pizzas and crazy bread and then headed to the park.

I found some shade under a tree and laid out our blankets and we waited for Marley and her family to get there.  Marley is a girl in Autumn’s class at “college”, and according to Autumn’s teacher they are joined at the hip.  Marley’s Mom & I have been trying to plan a play date for them for the past few months and today was finally the day.  I was noticing today how long and lean Autumn is.  I remember when she could barely toddle her way through these rings at the park and now she’s tall enough to reach up and grab them and hang on.  I keep teasingly telling her that she needs to stop growing b/c she’s growing up too fast.

The girls went and played in the water for a little bit, but the water was really cold and it was really windy today so they came back to eat and wrap in towels to stay warm.  I always worry about what to talk about w/ people I don’t know, but Marley’s Mom is so nice and we had a good conversation and even if we weren’t talking, it wasn’t an awkward silence.

The girls wanted to be out in the sun where it was warm, so they found this big hill and had a blast running to the top of it and then rolling down it together.  I was worried they were going to crash into each other, but never did.  Their laughter was so cute and contagious.

Marley’s Dad & brother (Miles) had been at a cousin’s baseball game and came over and joined us after it was over.  They had fun running around on the playground equipment and I stayed in the shade w/ all of our stuff.  I am SO GLAD that Autumn had such a great time and that we were finally able to arrange to make this happen.  Marley’s Mom & I decided we’ll definitely have to do this again, and this time go to each other’s houses so the girls can see each other’s rooms and play w/ each other’s toys.

We had been at the park for 2 1/2 hours, so after we left we went over to Mom & Dad’s b/c Autumn wanted to go swimming.  Dad had found this big snake skin between the rocks on the waterfall!  We think he lives in the empty space behind the waterfall and Mom was glad it was just his shed skin and not the real thing.

The Monzingo’s came over to swim and even brought hot dogs to grill, 7 layer bean dip w/ chips, and watermelon.  I went swimming for a little bit, but didn’t stay in for too long b/c I had some how gotten sunburned on my face from being at the park even though I was in the shade 95% of the time.  So, I sat and read my book while keeping a very close eye on Autumn.  I think it was good for her to swim around w/out me in the pool to rely on.  She was a lot more brave and did a great job keeping up w/ the Monzingo’s grandkids.

We finally left Mom & Dad’s around 8:30 and I bet that Autumn would be dead asleep before we got home.  To my surprise, she wasn’t and wanted to watch a movie.  She picked Swan Princess and I thought she’d for sure fall asleep watching that, but she didn’t!  I finally made her go to bed after the movie and as soon as her head hit the pillow she was gone.  I stayed up until midnight again reading my book.  I finished the 2nd one and started on the 3rd one.  They are SOOOOO GOOD!