The Rest of May

Wow!  Here we are, half the year over already!  We have had the absolute worst spring weather.  It has been cold, then rainy, then cold and rainy.  Kind of like our regular camping weather!  Baseball has been a bust so far, as we have had to reschedule seven games.  SEVEN!  While I have been excited about finally feeling good and being organized enough to venture out more, it's been difficult.

Having Lawrence out of diapers has been quite a blessing.  It was the single event that took quite a lot of pressure off.  Half the battle of getting out of the house is getting all the 'stuff' prepared, then the other half of the battle is that someone always has to poop as soon as I snap the buckle of the car seat.

In April, I went to an event at my church were someone from the Parks Department gave a talk about the history of the parks of Cincinnati and what's going on currently in them.  There are A LOT of parks in the Cincinnati area.  Not just playground-y type parks, but walking parks, woodsy hiking parks, garden parks, spray grounds, farm-type parks and the list goes on.  I have only been to a handful of them.

Interestingly, the group sponsoring the talk was what I would deem the 'elderly' group in the church.  So I was the youngest person in attendance by, oh, at least 1000 years or so.  Was just fine, as I love hangin' with the older set and had a great meal to boot!  And I won the door prize!  Happy Day!  The door prize was a book about the history of some of the parks in Cincinnati, with historical photos and stuff.  What a great prize!  I never win anything!  So I decided that winning that prize was a sign.  With the small ones both in diapers, I have been reluctant to leave my beloved West Side.  Winning that book gave me some motivation to get out.  My goal is to explore one park per week with the kids.  I'll begin with the major ones and end with the smaller ones.  I think it will take a while!

Needless to say, I have been particularly psyched about springtime.  Oh, the excitement of coming out of hibernation!  I've been excited about hitting the parks.  But the stupid weather hasn't been cooperating.  We spent much of May waiting for Spring.  It showed up yesterday (a nice 70 degrees) and Summer showed up today.  90 degrees already.

Anyway, here is a pictorial summary of the rest of our May.

Archie's practices/ballgames have been very hit or miss.  One day, I had everyone ready to walk out of the door and got the message that practice was cancelled.  Again.  Since everyone was practically in the car ready to go, we decided to go to a walking park and walk in the drizzle.   (Veterans Memorial Park) We'd been inside for over a week and were just itching to get an outdoor leg stretch.  This was in the second week of May.  May Something-teenth.  And you see what we have on?  JACKETS!  Blech.  I didn't take any other pictures because it was so muddy and gross out.

We couldn't bear to go back home after we got done, so we headed to Donald's, as Lawrence calls it, to eat a crappy burger dinner, but mostly to let everyone have a go on the indoor playground.  It was a well-needed respite from the house.

This is what happens when your big brother (who is also a Genius Trickster) gets hold of the camera.  Candid photos!  Nice one, Archie!  He took the next few of them as well. 

 Self portraits. 

A nice picture of me assuming the position.  Washing dishes.  

Last weekend, we finally got two warmer days and sunshine all at the same time!  We spent them outside, of course!  Even though we didn't do anything particularly special, it was really great to get to have a fire pit and barbecue.  It was so special that when I went to the store to prepare for said weekend, I got burgers, hot dogs, Chorizo, AND steaks to grill out.  We had grilled food for the weekend, as well as the first three days of last week.  We had a whole month's worth of grillin' to catch up on!  Plus, after the kiddos went to bed, it was fun to have a glass of wine with my sweetie.  It's the only kind of dates we get.  At home dates.  

It wasn't what I would call hot out, but it wasn't cold either.  Lawrence wanted to be naked on the porch.  The cooler was up there, Lawrence needed a rinse off....so the result was only natural.   May I present:

 REDNECK HOT TUBBIN'!  

You get your beverage on an upside down bucket, fill the cooler with hot water (with or without bubbles) and sit back and re-lax!  Yes sir.  

We had a park day scheduled at Lunken Park with our homeschool group, but as usual, the rain caused us to have to relocate.  We went to Crossroads (which is a Megachurch in the area) where they have a really cool indoor playground, Wifi, coffee stand, that is all free and open to the public!  I wish I had known of this a few months ago!  The kids had a blast and the Moms planned some of the activities we'd be doing.  It is so cool seeing kids of all ages not segregating into cliques, hanging out together, playing tag, hide and seek and such.  I love homeschoolers!  We had a great time and I heard about some really neat opportunities that I hope our family can be part of.  I am particularly excited about the once-a-month rain or shine hiking club.  It will fit into my parks goals nicely.  Ah, pooled resources.  So much easier than going it alone.