Sunday night in the park

Lee has been wanting to take Logan to the children's park in downtown Ringgold for a while... just about ever since it opened a few months ago. I had taken him once before with my friend, Mike, but Lee had never gotten to take him. He thought it would be fun for Logan and good for him to be around other kids. We waited to go until about 8:00 or so because it was just so darn hot earlier... there was no way we wanted to be out in that heat wave.

We grabbed some dinner at Wendy's on the way and brought it with us to eat there. At first, Logan just kind of stood around our picnic table and watched the other kids playing from afar. He slowly started inching his way out to see what they were all doing. It finally took Daddy taking him over to the slide and other stuff for him to really get "into" it. Once he did, he had so much fun. He ran around and looked at all the toys and Daddy took him down the slide a few times (he doesn't like the slide very much... scared him, I guess!), showed him the little toys you can sit on, and took him on a swing. Logan seemed to like swinging with Daddy, but he really loved all the attention from a group of little girls. They were a bit older than him, I'd say about age 6 to 8 or so, and they adored him. I walked around to keep an eye on him and they were having a blast just "chasing" him and tickling him and getting him to laugh really hard. They even took him down the slide (which he still didn't like). Right before it was time for us to go home, one of the little girls had a cell phone (imagine that, a cell phone on a kid under 10 years old... I didn't get a cell phone until I was out of high school... but that's a whole 'nother tangent) and they asked if they could take a picture of Logan. It was really sweet.

Since Logan enjoyed himself so much, Lee suggested we try and make it a weekly event. So from now on, we're going to aim to take him to the park on Sunday evenings to get him out of the house and interacting with other little kids.

Fresh green beans!

Tonight for dinner we had a turkey and stuffing boxed meal (gotta love easy dinners!) On the side, I made rolls and we had DELICIOUS, fresh green beans. Our neighbor, Jeremy, is so kind. He brings us lots of fresh veggies from his amazing garden and just the other day he brought several cucumbers and a huge bag of beans. Here they are after we cleaned them and removed all the strings! Yum!!

All ready to cook & eat!

We DID get to play outside after all!!!

The rain let up around 4:00 or so and the sun came out so I got to take Logan in the yard to test out the new water toys! Okay, so I'll be first to admit, the slip-n-slide was definitely a purchase I made more for myself... which turned out to be good because Logan wasn't very cool with me sliding him down it... he did like walking up and down it and touching the water spraying onto the slippy slide. Whenever I'd slide down, though, he got a bit freaked out... I think he thought it was trying to "get me" or something. It was rather amusing.









After we had enough of that, we went to the front yard to put Logan's Backyardigans sprinkler out in the driveway. He LOVED that thing. He kept running up to it with his mouth wide open and smiling and then he'd turn his back to it when he'd had enough. He kept doing this cycle again and again. What a fun toy. I'm so glad I found that for him!

No outside play today!

We've had rain showers on and off all day today... doesn't look like we'll be playing in the new sprinkler or on the slip-n-slide at all. Bummer.

But on the upside, I happened to score a super-duper cute wool interlock diaper cover for Logan on Hyena Cart today from Connorsmama Creations! It's sooo adorable and the giraffes print is hard to find since it's not made anymore. Here's the pictures of it; I can't wait for it to get here!

Chicken nuggets & New toys!

I love unexpected, fun days. Today was one of those days... I went out with Logan to Walgreens to pick up some photos I had printed and while we were there we walked around and looked at the summer toys on sale. Logan had fun bouncing a big, pink bouncy ball off the floor in the aisles and watching me run to retrieve it for him. He was giggling like crazy. I was getting worn out, but he had fun so we took the little 99-center home for him to play with later.

I was going to just drive home, but I was kind of hungry, and figured Logan was too. Little man and I had lunch out, just the two of us, at Chick-fil-A, and it was nice. He had his little 4-piece nuggets meal and I had my 8 nuggets. In case you don't already know, this child LOVES drinking straws. Whenever we go somewhere to eat I always grab an extra (or two so when he drops the first one on the floor I have a clean one ready) for him to play with. He had fun playing with his straw and watching the other folks eating lunch.

Then, since it was right there, we went into Target to walk around for a bit since I don't go in there much and like to look around occasionally. I got some really cute board books for Logan for a buck a piece that have these cute little flaps with a photo on them you lift up and it has the word of the thing underneath. I got him 4 of them: shapes, colors, animals, and first words. Not only are they cute and actually entertain him, but they're somewhat educational so we can show him the pictures and teach him the word. Daddy read one with him tonight, actually. Ooh, Target has a ton of their outdoor, summer toys on clearance. I got a slip-n-slide for 5 bucks (even though Logan's a little young, I thought he still might get a kick out of it and, well, I always wanted one as a kid and never had one so you know I'm gonna try that bad boy out and break a hip while I'm at it.) I also got Logan this nifty little Backyardigans sprinkler so he can run around in the water in the yard. You all know how much Logan loves water, hoses, and the like so I figured I couldn't go wrong with that toy. Besides, what kid do you know that doesn't love running through a sprinkler in their swimsuit on a hot day? Well, a kid with a giant swimming pool I suppose, but we don't have one of those so the sprinkler should be a hit at our house!

We came home after shopping and Logan was worn ragged so I put him down for his nap and he slept for 3 hours. I got the grass cut while he got his beauty sleep. We had a really fun day just the two of us. I can't wait for tomorrow to see Logan playing with his new water toys in the yard! You know I'm gonna be taking some pictures to share!!

Photo Contest in Parenting

Parenting magazine is running a photo contest, and it looks like up to five photos are allowed to be submitted. I've chosen 5 of my favorite, recent pictures of Logan as my entries. I probably have a snowball's chance in hell of actually winning, but I thought it would be fun to enter them anyway. After all, someone's gotta win!

Here they are in no particular order... what do you think? (Oh yeah, and the first picture is also the same one I submitted for the weekly photo contest at Goodmama this week.)

Downtown Chattanooga

We had sooo much fun on Sunday going to downtown Chattanooga. Lee, Logan, and I met up with Claudia, MaryAnn, Shannon, and all the kids. Our first stop was the Chattanooga Market; we looked around at all the interesting things for sale by the local merchants, the kids played a bit, and I bought some yummy produce. I got some fresh green beans and corn on the cob to cook tonight. Yum!

After we left the market, we picked up Ryan and headed to Coolidge Park. The kids were all ready to splash and have fun in the fountain, but unfortunately it was closed... earlier in the day a kid had a bathroom accident and they had to close the fountain to sterilize it. The kids were a little disappointed, but there's always next time. They all rode the historic carousel instead. It was Logan's first time on a carousel. We thought he might be afraid, but he loved it. He just kept staring at the lights and animals and when the ride was over, he did not want to get off!

It was typical HOT July weather perfect for being outside (and sweating your butt off!) so Ryan, Lee, and the kids played in the park's field for a bit throwing a frisbee around. Logan had so much fun just getting to run free as a bird. He adores his little cousin, Harrison, and they were running back and forth and back and forth just having a good ole time! Claudia, MaryAnn, and Shannon relaxed in the shade while they all played, and I walked around snapping some pictures.

MaryAnn and Shannon headed home after the park, and Claudia, Ryan, Harrison, and my clan headed to Market Street to get some dinner. We ate at Taco Mac and we were all starving... the food was great. Logan was well-behaved and had fun feeding Daddy his goldfish crackers. I had a delicious margarita and Claudia had some Sam Adams beer.

All in all, it was a hot, but super day. It was great to see everyone and get out and do something inexpensive on a Sunday afternoon. I took tons of pictures and many of them came out so nicely that I had to share a lot of them. Normally I wouldn't post this many, but they all really capture our great day so well that I felt the need to share. I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I enjoyed taking them!! *Click the photos to view the full-size.