Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Dublin Park

So, Madison Alabama has the most amazing kids' park I have ever seen in my entire life of being a mother on the prowl for awesome parks to take her crazy children to. It has bendy slides that come out of a dragon's mouth, it has twisty tube slides, tire swings, lounge chair swings, regular swings, wood xylophones, balance beams, cinderella'a coach, an alligator, and a castle and a fort made of crayons, and all kinds of places to crawl around and explore. And the best part is that there's only one entrance, and the rest is fenced, so you can let your kids loose and know they're not gonna escape. This playground was inspired by elementary school kids, and build by volunteers in the community. I LOVE IT!!!

And so do Hannah and Sam

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Sam Is 3!!

My younger brother Tim had the misfortune to be born on June 13th, and he has complained every year that we always go on vacation on his birthday, instead of staying at home so he can party. Admittedly, I have never really had much sympathy for his plight- I mean, what could be cooler that your very own birthday family vacation? Who doesn't want to sing happy birthday to themselves while riding in the back of the brown Astro van, (and be sure to stay on your half of the bench seat!)

I think Sam has him beat, though. Every year for his birthday we've moved for the summer to an apartment we've never been in, to a city we're not familiar with, and left the vast majority of his toys behind in Memphis. And when he's older, his birthday will be right in the middle of exam week.

But this year for his birthday we were already settled into our summer apartment, that is, we had finished moving in the furniture that morning. So later we had a party for sam, who wouldn't have even known it was his birthday if his sister hadn't told him several times over. We decked the room with balloons and presents and a cake and he walks in and exclaims "a party for meeee!!" He even had his own personal party manager, hannah, telling him what presents to open next and when it was time to eat cake. Afterwards we went to the playground to play with his new bubble blower, and in true Sam style he dumps out all his bubble solution while looking down at something in the grass- but this time he didn't get it all in his hair!

love you all-