Picnic in the Park

It was such a gorgeous, sunny, mild morning here that I decided to take Squiggles out for a picnic in the park. My original plan was to take him to a wonderful park we've heard about which is only about 10 minutes away from us, but I was unaware of the $3 entry fee and didn't have the cash. So we just headed to our favorite free park and had a great time playing and enjoying our PB&J sandwiches. So much so that I had to carry Squiggles away when it was time to go home and take a nap! I'm glad we left when we did, though; our sunny morning had turned cloudy by the time we got to the park, and by the time we left it was starting to rain. Oh well, better than the snow forecasted back in Ohio!

Funny story: when I first took Squiggles to the park when we first moved here, I thought it was odd that there were no other children at the playground I found. It was a nice little playground, and Squiggles was perfectly content playing by himself, but I couldn't help but think that there should have been at least a couple of other kids there.

He loved playing peek-a-boo in the tunnell...

...but it took him a while to work up the courage to go down the slide. Whee!

Fast forward to our second visit, where I spied a large, shade covered play area tucked in toward the back of the park. Aha! Here there were lots of kids and mommies and, eventually, an entire class of preschoolers or kindergarteners (which was our, and all the other moms of toddlers, cue to leave). I love how large this playground is, with several benches and picnic tables, plus there are plenty of tall trees for shade, and the ground is covered with soft, spongy pine needles. The pine needles remind me of home, especially now during autumn.