Park fun

I know I titled this post Park Fun, but I have to be honest, I'm not sure how much fun it really was. The kids wanted to go play on the playground instead of going swimming and I reluctantly agreed to take them. I only didn't want to go because it was 90 degrees with 50% humidity outside!  I tried to tell them that it was too hot, but I decided to let them prove my point for me. :) About 20 minutes after we got there the whining started. We only stayed about 30 minutes. They conceded that it was too hot to play on the playground. 

So that's when we decided to go to the pool instead. ;)

Charlie Daniels Park

The kids asked to go to a different park one day. I didn't know of any other parks, but Uncle Scott suggested Charlie Daniels Park. It's in Mount Juliet, that's the next city West of Lebanon. So I loaded up snacks, drinks, scooters, helmets & the kids and took off at 9am Friday morning to go to the park. 

Their website said they had a skatepark there and my kids were SOOOO excited to try it out! But when we got there, I found a No Scooters Allowed in the skatepark sign. LAME! Maryam was so upset she nearly cried! I felt terrible. Fortunately they kept themselves busy on the playground. 

We stayed over 2 hours before the humidity just became too much for them. Once the, "I'm too hot to play!" complaints started, we took off. We stopped at Sonic for some slushes to help them cool down on the way home. 

We tried to go to the pool Friday afternoon, but about 10 minutes after we got there a storm hit. 

Enjoy the park pictures!

Addison & Jax on the teeter totter 

Maryam & Jax climbing a web

Charlie posing

The dreaded scooter NOT ALLOWED sign

Maryam 

Jax playing in the sand

Addison riding a toy

Big girls on the baby teeter totter

Addison & Jax on the tire swing

Addison at the top of the climber

Charlie posing on the twirly whirl 

Jax at the tippy top of the chain ladder

Jax playing with a very loud toy

Addison & Jax saying cheeeeese through a window on the slide

Maryam telling a secret

Addison monkeying around

Mommy & Jax 

Our Park

I take the Littles to the park every morning for a 3 mile walk. Jax rides his scooter for the first mile then rides in the stroller for the remaining two. The park has a one mile loop that has a creek that runs next to it. We have seen all kinds of wildlife there!
On Monday we saw two turtles in the creek! All week we've seen Bluejays then on Thursday I found a Bluejay nest high up in one of the trees near the trail. On Thursday I also noticed two cardinals flying about. Turns out they have a best near by too! Come to think of it, Thursday was also the day we found a crane. It's HUGE!!
After our walk the kids play on the playground for a bit. The playground is amazing! The climber is a giant wooden castle. They run around chasing each other, swing on the swings and slide down the slides.

Earth Day

I took the Littles to the park this morning to explore some nature. I figured today would be a great day for it since it was beautiful outside and it's Earth Day! The kids and I made a list of things to look for while we were there. We packed up our lunches and we headed out!
We had a great time! We found two turtles in the creek. We found a Robin and a Cardinal and a HUGE nest up in a tree. Brett came to the park after he had lunch with Maryam at school. We took the kids out on some rocks in the middle of the creek. While we were out there a huge yellow butterfly fluttered by us. We all started trying to catch it but we were all unsuccessful. We spent a little over 2 hours at the park this morning. When we got home the kids took a two and a half hour nap.

Mommy and Bubby time

Jax and I hit up "Castle Park" this morning because he wanted to scooter some place different. There is a one mile path around the park and it was almost 45 degrees outside, so I figured, why not? I jogged while he scootered. He was only able to do one lap, but we had fun. He stopped to throw rocks in the creek. He stopped to pick flowers and make wishes on dandelions.
After we finished our lap, I let him play on the castle. He had a great time!

One on one time

Starting this week I'm cutting back on babysitting Baby Brookie. Instead of having her Monday-Friday, I'll only have her Wednesday-Friday. We're transitioning her to her new babysitter and giving me time to pack and have some much needed Mommy and Jax time. Jax has been having a rough fine since Brett left. He's extra needy plus he's been having those tummy aches.
Today after we dropped Maryam off at school we had breakfast at Starbucks with my friend Sara and her husband. After that we spent almost 2 hours at a park! He had so much fun, he's so cute. After the park we went to the archeological and paleontology building. Jax told the curator all about dinosaurs. Mr. Nick really seemed to enjoy Jax. He was shocked by his knowledge of fossils, dinosaurs and rocks. Jax didn't stop talking except to let Mr. Nick get his two cents in every once in a while.
Mr. Nick showed Jax a 2 million year old tortes foot fossil, a shell fossil, a sloth jaw fossil and a mammoth foot fossil. Jax took that opportunity to tell Mr. Nick all about Manny and Sid from Ice Age, Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Hilarious.
After that little lesson, Jax asked me to draw him a dinosaur. I'm not an artist, he didn't believe me. ;)