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.

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.