Furlough Day From School

The kids were out of school today due to the teachers being furloughed (which conveniently coincided with election day).  We were busy bees this morning and cleaned up the house.  The kids helped with moving furniture out of the way while I vacuumed and mopped.  Once we got chores out of the way, we headed out for some fun and went to a big park.  The kids brought their bikes and helmets.

We took a little trail down to the creek flowing under the bridge.

The start of it off the paved path was cobblestone.

Chloe found big sticks to pick up.

And throw into the creek.

Owen found helicopters to toss up into the air.

I thought the underside of the bridge was pretty cool.

I think she got her stick obsession from her brother.

Owen was looking for mica and pyrite.  Chloe was just looking for cool rocks.  I love watching them work together and side-by-side.  It is really nice seeing them mature a bit and become friends, where the other's presence doesn't set off a temper.

She had to venture farther downstream.  Because I had already said it was time to go back up to the park.  Twice.

She was proud of her loot.

They wanted to go up a different return path and called it the short cut.  They bet me they would beat me up.  Guess who was surprised to see me waiting at the top for them.  :)

They road farther ahead of me this time and parked their bikes in a bike stand next to the playground.  Chloe want to play and made new friends on the merry-go-round.  Owen was a bit intimidated by all of the kids at the park and chose to sit next to me on a bench.  We had a nice conversation together about photography, babies, growing up and coming back to this park another time with one of his friends.

After we left this park, we headed to the Learning Express so the kids could look at kendamas.  Owen has been pining for a kendama since his birthday when his friend Preston got one.  All he has talked about for WEEKS is how he wants a kendama, how he's saving his money to buy a kendama and how he hopes Santa or Mommy and Daddy will get him one for Christmas.  We were going to 'just look.'  

After staring longingly at the kendamas for quite awhile, I asked him which color he thought he would choose and he narrowed it down to three.  Then he got really quiet and said, "Mommy, I know you're going to say no, but I just have to ask, even though you're probably going to say no, but will you please buy me a kendama and I'll give you all of the money I have at home and you can keep my allowance for the next two months?  I just know you're going to say no."  He barely made eye contact, so I knelt down and said "You're right, Owen.  I would say no."  I waited a few moments and then said, "I would say no because I was already planning on buying you a kendama today and you don't need to pay me back."

It took a bit for my words to register and then his eyes widened and he threw his arms around me in a big hug.  He stepped back and told me that I deserved a hundred kisses before he looked at all the kendamas again and with a different expression.  Then he started crying and wrapped his arms around me again.  This boy was so extremely happy.  In his world, he just won the lotto.

A Trip to Marietta Square

We drove over to downtown Marietta to meet our friend Wendy and her son Logan playing in the square.  We stopped in front of this cool painted brick wall after getting out of the car to snap a couple of pictures.

Chloe thought she would be sweet and give her brother a kiss.  Can you see he was not a willing recipient?

She was happy to stand by herself and smile for me.  :)

Before we even got to the square, Chloe had found a ladybug.

Logan is a little cutie and running all over the place.

Chloe wanted to jump up and ring the bell.

She jumped high and was able to touch it.

Logan thought this little bell on a train engine was fun.

Chloe kept ringing it over and over for him. 

Look at this silly girl!  Always a silly face.  :)

Chloe had a lot of fun playing with Logan and following him around.  She loves babies.

But she still needs quite a bit of supervision since she doesn't realize babies aren't as tough as she is and don't have as much balance.  Wendy was always close by.

Hi, my toothless girl!

Hi, my soccer boy!

 Chloe and Logan had fun running around the fountain together and sitting on the steps for a heart-to-heart chat.

This boy loves to bring his soccer ball everywhere and was thrilled it was allowed on this outing.  :)

This silly girl got ants in her pants on the way back to our car.

She started snapping her fingers and dancing for me.

At Talking Rock Park with Friends

After Owen's soccer game, we ran home to get changed and then drove up to Jasper to have fun with Tabitha and her two boys.  We picked them up and made our way to Talking Rock Park which has a great stream running along next to railroad tracks, a playground and a large open field.

The kids had fun throwing rocks in the water.

And playing on the rocks.

Chloe liked leaning into this tree while sitting on the roots.

Owen fell on some of the rocks in the stream and scraped up his shin pretty badly.  There was quite a bit of blood and tears, so it was awhile before I got more than serious looks like this.

I was proud of my boy for helping push the Youngling in a swing....nice seeing him help out the littler kids!

He played on the trapeze bar, hanging like a monkey and sitting up high.

My little dangle did what she's good at....she dangled.  :)

After getting our fill of the playground, we went for a walk along the railroad tracks.

Chloe hung back and then ran to catch up with us.

She kept running to get ahead while Owen carefully balanced as he walked along on a rail.

We stopped along the side in an area by a gate and some bushes that he wanted to check out.  Owen asked me to take some pictures of him and this is the face I got.  It is his favorite face lately.  I think mainly because it gets such great reactions from others.

Wow, these rails were laid down in 1938!

Chloe had fun playing in the mud.

Time flies when having fun.  We arrived at Talking Rock Park mid-afternoon and already the sun was starting to set.  

I love how well these kids get along with each other! 

Amazing that the kids still had energy, but they did.  They just kept running.

Owen caught a grasshopper.  He named it Jerry.  Where does he come up with these names?

Chloe picked some flowers for me.

Then the kids worked together to hold onto Jerry and chase him down to recapture the poor grasshopper after many, many escapes.

More running, into the sun.  Back and forth they all ran.

Ben found some onions and maybe even grass that he thought were good to chew on.  Silly boy.

Chloe tried blowing on dandelions to make wishes, but they didn't blow apart like the dandelion seedling fuzz flowers.

As we headed back towards the car, a tree summoned the boy to climb up higher than me.

And of course, the girl child had to do the same thing as her brother.  Because she is not to be outdone.  Ever.

I love that the older these two get, the better friends they are becoming.  They still pick at each other and do things to irritate the other intentionally.  They tattle and sometimes they even still hit.  They push each other's buttons.  But for the most part, they have so much fun together.  They spend hours playing with each other and I love that.  I love that they can play and laugh and truly enjoy each other's company.