Proud Parent Day

Earlier this summer, we spent a day at Silverwood theme park.  They have rides, food, and a water park.  After Keith spent some time on the coasters (I don't do heights), we decided to see what kinds of rides Charlie might like before we headed to the waterpark.  Charlie had already mastered the carousel at the park, so we felt sure he'd have some fun on the kiddy rides at Silverwood.  We couldn't be more wrong! 

Flying elephants?  No!  Butterlfyer?  No!  Froghopper, Red Baron? NO NO NO!  Hmmm.  So much for family day at the park.  Finally, we put our foot down.  Our feet, I guess.  Antique cars.  Surely Charlie would like that.  All you do is sit in an antique car, ride around a track at 2 miles an hour for about 5 minutes and get out.  Charlie knows all about riding in the car and this time:  no carseat!  When we got to our car, it was like trying to put a cat in a bathtub.  He screamed, fought, pushed, pulled.  And then he sat down, and SNAP, he was a happy kid.  What?!  I kid you not, the transformation was instant.  He was smiling, talking about the color of our car, the car ahead of us and how we were "drivin."  Whew!  Fun at last.

Well, after that experience, we began to seriously doubt our upcoming trip to Florida this fall, which includes a visit to Legoland.  Would every ride be a battle?  Should we even try to push him?  He's only two after all. 

Later in the summer we received a tip to visit Riverside park downtown to see a real live, close up Fire truck.  As we could have guessed, Charlie wasn't actually too interested in sitting up in the cab like the other kids, but he accepted a sticker and waved at Smoky the Bear.  What we didn't guess, was that actually the whole park was alive with booths, games, food... and rides.  Kid's day.  We wandered around, eating up our hour on the meter.  When we got to the rides, Keith asked, doubtfully, if Charlie wanted to ride the Airplane ride.  "Yeah."  We asked him if he was sure. "Yeah."  We must have asked him half a dozen times, pointing out that Mama couldn't ride with him and that it might be fast and a little high.  "Yeah."  Ok we thought, he'll get on and then we'll get to witness a melt down for the duration of the ride.  Spending far too much money, Keith bought enough tickets for three rides.  "We'll just see what happens.  But we've gotta try it."

And what happened was, we were the Proudest Parents of a Toddler that day.  With astounding calm, Charlie was placed in a plane, by himself and left there.  And once the ride started, he smiled, laughed, forgot to pull the lever to go up, but who cares?  He was having FUN!  And, so were we.  We were elated.  Sounds so silly to think so.  I mean, for goodness sake, if we're this proud over a carnival ride, what happens when he graduates from high school?  And Charlie went on to use up all the tickets.  "Driving" a train and riding the bumper boats.  Our son.  A ride rider.  So proud.

And so, some of you may be asking, why can't Mama set a good example and start riding the roller coasters?  My response to that is, "Don't make this about me.  This is about the kids."

I Found the Camera

Well, okay, Keith told me where it was. But, that means I have lots of pictures to show you as well as lots of new ones we've taken since I last posted.  I should warn you that you'll see some untidyness.  What can I say?  People live in this place.

 These two are of the "master bedroom."  That just means its where Keith and I sleep.  No bathroom attached.

And here's Charlie's room, a shot at the other window.  Check out the cool cars on his wall.  A gift from Keith's past.  Thanks Mom-in-Law!

Here's the living room.  I have since put up valances, or "curtain toppers" as I've dubbed them, to soften up all that brightness.  Like the brightness, just needed some color.  And we now have white slip covers on those chairs and I have big plans, people, big plans to get pretty pillows on them, say next fall some time...

And finally a shot from the living through the kitchen into the dining room.  Follow the cabinet line on the right and you'll notice a lovely fade up from light to dark in color.  That's a real nice feature.  (Thank you for smiling, Brian Regan fans.)  You can't tell, but the piece with the microwave on it is Charlie's old changing table.  My idea.

And here's a peek into the dining room.  Its quite cozy with our NEW used table from Craigslist.  We heart it very much, but it adds some bulk so recently we've pushed it under that window on the left.  Makes it much easier for Charlie to run straight from the dining room into the living and throw himself on the slipcovered, pillowless chair.  Whew.  Glad we got that one figured out.

And then a lovely shot of the backyard.  This one was taken fairly early on in summer and those two ornamental cherry trees were just gorgeous.  Of course, Charlie calls them "mental cherries" but at least he knows he's not supposed to eat them.

Here's a look of what I see right outside my kitchen window.  The picture below is a little more clear.  Sometime in June this huge rose bush put forth the prettiest yellow flowers.  They didn't last long but they made washing dishes much more fun.  We are very fortunate to live next door to an avid gardener.  There isn't a day she isn't outside tending something.  And the results are lovely. 

I thought I had better pictures of the basement, but I don't!  And right now isn't the best time to snap a shot.  Boxes, toys, stripped beds.  I've been trying to purge this week as well a sort through what we have and don't have for baby girl.  Due in about 4 months.  Gulp.

Tune in next time for a story about the afternoon we spent as "Proudest Parents of a Two-Yearold."  And no, unfortunately, it does not have to do with potty training.