Park Day

And the award goes to... ME! I finally took the kids to the park. The SECOND time since July. Isn't that horrible? It's because I'm spoiled.

We used to live a block away from a great park. We went there almost every day. It had open grass where the kids could run, fly a kite, or play soccer. It had sidewalks for them to ride bikes and scooters on. It had swings. It had sand to dig in. It had a restroom and a drinking fountain.

I have to say that according to my standards, the parks here are GROSS! No grass; only sandy dirt covered in pine needles. No swings. No sand. No sidewalks. No restroom. No drinking fountain. ARGH!

The good news is that Cooper doesn't care. He just runs and plays. He doesn't need anyone to play with. He goes up the slide, he goes down. He climbs the ladders and doesn't want help. He was so happy at the park today that I'm ready to go more often, maybe even regularly.

Mercedes is a different story. She didn't have any friends to play with (there just weren't any kids there her age), and so she was bored. Next time I'll have to bring one of the neighbors with us so that she'll be happy too. Mercedes absolutely LOATHES being alone. She's always been that way. She doesn't like to sleep alone, eat alone, bathe alone... just can't stand to be alone. If she has a friend to play with she's in heaven. If she doesn't, she's... somewhere else.

One really neat thing about South Carolina is that there are Christians EVERYWHERE. People at the store say, "Happy Easter and have a blessed day." Really! I'm still not used to it. I came here from a place where I was afraid people would be offended if I said, "Happy Easter." It's like a different world.

At the park, a little girl immediately singled out Cooper, wanting to play with him. She was so cute! She was 2 or 3 years old. As she was climbing to the top of the slide she said to her mom, "I'm climbing up to heaven to see God." And as she started to slide down she said, "I'm going down to see God." It was so cute!

Then, as the kids were eating dinner at the picnic table, a little boy came up to me and said, "You're really making me want McDonalds. I can't have it because I gave it up for lent." (Yes - I know that I am a terrible mother for feeding my children garbage).

Overall, it was a good experience. But I sure do miss Garfield Park.