Colour

Saturday, June 7, 2014

My grandma is cooler than yours.

Unless of course you are one of my brothers or one of my cousins, and then I would agree that your grandma is also quite cool.
 
My grandma (grandpa was there too, enduring all of the girl madness!) hosted an afternoon tea party for their four great-granddaughters. Dress up clothes were laid out for the girls when we arrived and as you can see, our oldest daughter is a fan. Not pictured: the high heels she puts on every time we go out there, whether we are playing inside or out. Then the girls enjoyed tea (mango juice), accompanied by strawberries from the garden and hazelnut cookies at their very own pint-sized table. The gathering ended with bubble-blowing and water balloon throwing as afternoon teas tend to do. It was an afternoon we will remember for a very long time.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

summer days (and park progress!)

Two parks in one day?! Wait. Two posts two days in a row?! We've gone bananas. Speaking of bananas...monkeys! We went to the zoo today too. Nice segue, I know. Today was the kind of day I love the most.

The zoo with all my girls. Lucy, Sammy and Gaga.





We spent the morning at the zoo, then accidentally (not at all) stopped by the plaza for some quick shopping, dropped my mom back at her house - though not before Lucy was able to talk her into an "orange ice cream cone with red sprinkles" - and then we were off on another park adventure! 

 
This picture kind of summarizes our initial feelings about this park. Spending 20 minutes playing at a park with one swing set and one slide (yes, of course we are spoiled by modern parks) posed a challenge for us... Lucy was initially most excited about the number of mushrooms (hundreds) growing in this park.

 
But once we got going... Oh wait. Savannah still hated Lucy holding her down the slide... 
 
But once we went back to the car and got Lucy's baby "Kathy" (see middle swing) all seemed right with the world. It wasn't documented, but Savannah even warmed to Lucy helping her down the slide. And we  ended up staying for almost 45 minutes, success!
 
 
THEN. After dinner out at a restaurant we talked Paul into joining us at yet another park. I'm getting competitive about this challenge, I can feel it. And the girls don't seem to mind one bit! 


 
 
COMMUNITY PARKS
Broken Arrow ParkBurcham Park
Centennial ParkClinton Lake Park
Holcom Park"Dad" Perry Park
Prairie ParkRiverfront Park
South ParkBuford M. Watson, Jr. Park
 
NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS
Chief Jim McSwain ParkBrook Creek Park
Burroughs Creek Trail & Linear ParkClinton Lake Leased Area
Chaparral ParkClinton Park
Constant ParkDeerfield Park
DeVictor ParkEdgewood Park
HAND ParkHobbs Park
Ludlam ParkLyons Park
Parnell ParkPark Hills Parks
Quail Run ParkRobinson Park
Stonegate ParkJohn Taylor Park
Veterans ParkWalnut Park
Water Tower ParkWoody Park
 

Monday, June 2, 2014

Park Challenge!

As the long, long, LOOOONG winter was melting away I had been thinking about all the things we were going to be able to do outside once it warmed up. So with summer upon us, on the days we aren't lounging poolside all day (we are already guilty of this) we are going to take on this summer challenge I dreampt up. I have decided the girls and I will visit every park in Lawrence between June 1 and August 31. I found an official list on the Parks and Rec website and am putting this in writing on the blog so I can't back out. There are only two rules, the first: we must be there for at least 20 minutes (because as a professional park-goer, I believe this constitutes an official park visit and while I want to say I would never just park, snap a picture and move on, the competitive nature in me knows I would do what it takes to not fail at my own challenge). Which brings me to rule number two: there must be a picture of both girls, together or individual, and it will then be posted on the blog with the name of the park and the updated park list. Wish us luck!




 COMMUNITY PARKS
Broken Arrow ParkBurcham Park
Centennial ParkClinton Lake Park
Holcom Park"Dad" Perry Park
Prairie ParkRiverfront Park
South ParkBuford M. Watson, Jr. Park

NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS
Chief Jim McSwain ParkBrook Creek Park
Burroughs Creek Trail & Linear ParkClinton Lake Leased Area
Chaparral ParkClinton Park
Constant ParkDeerfield Park
DeVictor ParkEdgewood Park
HAND ParkHobbs Park
Ludlam ParkLyons Park
Parnell ParkPark Hills Parks
Quail Run ParkRobinson Park
Stonegate ParkJohn Taylor Park
Veterans ParkWalnut Park
Water Tower ParkWoody Park