Home Cooked Thoughts

Fridays have quickly become “Family Date Day” in our house since they are the only day that no one has to leave the house for work (most weeks).  So, we spend every minute together and usually do something fun, whether it’s the park or the zoo or just building a fire in the back yard.  Yesterday I had to work a couple of hours (which quickly turned into three hours) but we were determined to take Ben to a new park (new for us anyway).

When we were normally putting Ben in bed for an afternoon nap instead we loaded him in the car and prayed he’d fall asleep right away.  He did.  We drove through some neighborhoods for slow quiet tours (and to let the munchkin sleep a little longer) then headed into Green Cove Springs, the town adjacent to ours.  Spring Park is on the river with a spring run and some rolling hills (in most parts of the country they would be considered bumps, but here in Florida they are rolling hills!), a beautiful playground, a pier, picnic tables and gazebos … and it all sits directly across from the police station – so it’s safe too!

It was a gorgeous breezy day so we headed for the pier first.  Ben had never experienced anything like it and he would stop and stare at everything around him, then give out a delicious scream before he’d run into the wind further down the pier.  We were pawns to his delightful whims.  He stopped to stare at the fisherman (who kept calling him a beautiful little girl) and he followed another couple who were walking along the pier as well … even stopped to hold their hands and eventually get picked up by the woman (they were obvious grandparents and immediately smitten with him).

As we walked through the park to the playground we noticed another young family, a couple with their little girl, all dressed in denim with white shirts and getting their pictures taken … in the large gazebo that sits on the water’s edge there was a wedding about to happen – the bride was standing off to the side with her bridesmaid and flower girl having some pictures taken … there were children at the playground arguing with their mom over who could ride the swing next … and there were squirrels everywhere playing around the tree trunks in between their stockpiling efforts.  As we put Ben in the swing the wedding began … if it’s starting to sound a bit too surreal – I was thinking the same thing – but this is how it really was! 

The best part was after we had given Ben his dinner bottle and rolled around in the grass a bit we noticed the birds lining the pier (probably discussing their plans for the night) and we had the bright idea to let Ben walk down and check them out.  He loved it!  Ran as fast as he could with his arms in the air hoping to catch one or all of them!

We couldn’t have asked for a better day at the park!  Can’t wait to go back!