At the SCA renaissance fair

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Originally uploaded by jbellis

I took the kids to an SCA event today. Melissa and Isaac immediately declared it boring and scampered off to the adjacent playground. Matthew lasted about one minute longer before joining them. "I don't get it, Dad."

On the positive side, it _was_ a great playground and their were tons of other kids there. And we got smoked turkey legs to take home for lunch before we left.

Isaac at the pool

We have a pretty decent neighborhood pool. There's the main pool, a kid pool maybe eight inches deep, and the splashpad here. Isaac's favorite part is hanging on to Dad in the big pool, but this picture of him will have to do.

Splash Pad

 One very nice benefit to moving to Austin are the parks and splash pads nearby. 

What's cuter than a baby?

 Why two babies of course!

 Piggy-back

 Gwendolyn loved the splash pad.

My new swimming suit!  I haven't bought a new one since Matthew was a baby.  This one I found while still pregnant and I just hoped it would fit.  It's pretty close- still have about 15 lbs to go and then it will fit better.

Crab-walking through the fountains

Corinna all tuckered out

Neighborhood playground

Not bad for just down the street.

Bonus: not one, but two of the sand digger things that Matthew loved when he was Isaac's age. Perfect, because otherwise Melissa and Isaac would fight over it.

Isaac and the merry-go-round

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Originally uploaded by jbellis

Rachel found a new park in San Antonio, the only one we've seen in years with a merry-go-round. Playground designers almost universally consider these Too Dangerous now; I'm glad we found one willing to buck that trend.

Isaac has a love/hate relationship with it. When he's on it, he complains. When he's off it, he complains. I got frustrated at first: what else could you want?

He wanted to push it, like the Big Kids. But they go too fast for him.

Finally, on a gray day with almost nobody else at the park, Isaac got to push it all by himself.

At the Park

Last week the temperatures were in the 80s and 90s and a bit muggy, but Saturday the weather was glorious. It was overcast and cooler- perfect for a picnic in the park. I only had my cell phone so I couldn't get any pictures of the boys- they were running around too fast for the mediocre camera on the phone.

Melissa baked a birthday cake in the baseball field.

Matthew had a busy game of tag going with some kids, then the rest of us joined him on the playground for tag. That kid is fast! The game ended prematurely when another kid ran into a pole. Ouch. (He was okay.) Isaac climbed, ran, slid, dug, squealed, and just enjoyed himself.

When we got home it was bath time.

At the zoo

At the zoo
Originally uploaded by jbellis

By far, the kids' favorite exhibit at the zoo is "the riverbank,"
where getting sandy and wet -- especially, wet -- is encouraged.

They also have benches for timid moms and dads, so we stopped for a
good long splash.

The fun ended when Melissa persisted in throwing sand in the water.

Playground romance

The weather reached the upper 40s today, and Matthew was climbing the walls, so we decided to go to the park. As soon as we arrived I heard an estatic cry from the back seat, "Yea! We're here!" I released him from his carseat, and he bounded and leaped all over the park like a frisky colt. It's been several months since we regularly made trips to the park and he's missed it. Some time later a little two year old girl arrived. As they played together, it became apparent that they had common interests and communication skills. Namely climbing, piling dirt, and saying, "Mine! No!" Something in Matthew must have caught her eye though. She came up to him gave him a hug and his first kiss. Matthew, for his part, appeared nonchalant. He then darted to the swings and enjoyed another half hour of swinging before his Mama got too cold and the sky dark enough to call it quits. Matthew, alas, is never done with the park and had to be carted kicking a screaming "outside, outside" to the car. The promise of seeing Dada appeased him somewhat, and the car ride home was peaceful.

-Rachel