Mother's Day, Downtown Saratoga and the Carousel

Sunday for Mother's Day my parents came to town so my mom could spend Mother's Day with us since my sister was working.  It was a beautiful day.  After a morning stroller ride,

We headed downtown:

The carousel opened this weekend; MiniM.E. was so excited, she rode three times!

After the carousel we did MiniM.E.'s second favorite downtown activity, throwing rocks in the stream (with A. who was downtown with her dad):

A Birthday Party, More Pool and Swinging

woah!

"Look Mom, One Leg!"

A Wrap, The Same Playground, and The Dairy Haus

Yesterday my new Mother's Day wrap came in the mail.  It's short, and now that LittleL.G. has better body control and less aversion to back carries, I think it will be my new favorite- quicker wrapping and less tail dragging.  First test, success:

We went back to West Side Rec this morning hoping for the sprayground, but still no water... it was just hot.

So hot, that ice cream was in order after school.  LittleL.G. naps on the car ride, and since we don't live far from school, ice cream was the perfect activity to let LittleL.G. sleep a bit longer.  And we weren't too sad to eat in the car since it was so toasty outside.

Ducks, Silly Faces and Pools!

LittleL.G.'s first sand box experience

and first backyard pool

A BBQ, A Playground and A Kitchen Sink

Last night we had a BBQ with our neighbors.  It is so nice to live in a quiet, kid-friendly neighborhood.  Being that we moved in almost exactly a year ago, we worked on the house a lot during the first summer and being that I was enormously pregnant and didn't want to do a lot of walking out in the mid-day heat, didn't meet a lot of neighbors before October, when LittleL.G. arrived.  And then we had THE WINTER.  These neighbors I actually did meet last summer and our girls play well together and it's nice to just walk down the street to play.  Hopefully we'll meet more neighbors this year.

the babies

 Today we went to MiniM.E.'s favorite playground, West Side Rec.  She loves it all the time, but in the summer, the sprayground opens- she loves the sprinklers (even though half the time it is too cold or there are too many kids).  It is a nice option and can definitely extend our stay.  And it is especially nice for moms that get hot at playgrounds too!  Unfortunately, they aren't open yet...

the BIG slide

After a sunscreen and dirt filled day like today, the kids needed a bath, and I wanted to try LittleL.G. in the kitchen sink because sometimes it's the easiest place... Someone else was jealous:

The First Beach Day of the Summer

Somehow MiniM.E. got it in her little brain that we needed to go to the beach...

And since it was such a gorgeous day today we thought, why not?  We left late morning.  I was expecting to get there, have her play in the sand for an hour, for the water to be freezing and for us to be home in time for lunch.

We arrived and set up our blankets and beach tent (for LittleL.G.).  It was so beautiful out.  Warm, nice breeze and we had the beach almost all to ourselves.  Technically, no swimming or wading yet because the beach was "closed," but they had already mucked it out from the winter and combed the beach so the sand was clean.  The water was actually WARM NOT THAT COLD!  Had we thought to pack a lunch, (and MiniM.E.'s "seal floaty," which she insists she cannot swim without) we could have stayed all day!

First beach day: success.  I was glad Daddy came with us today so I could see how different two kids at the beach was than one.  But I think with a bit of practice we'll be able to spend lots of days at the beach.  Bring on summer!!