A day at the park

So, M got called up for jury duty and today was the first day of selection. I drove him around the lake to Lakeport, where the courthouse is, dropped him off, then the kids and I headed to the park a couple of blocks away. The park was nice... lots of trees, open grass space, two playground areas (for different age/ability groups), and it was right next to the water. The kids loved it and behaved beautifully, which was great because we were there for 5 hours!

C.O. can really climb now - he was all over the play structures, climbing the ladders, sliding down the slides, jumping off the little ledges. He made friends with this cool little homeschooled girl and they dug a pit together. When we had to leave at the end of the day, they hugged each other goodbye and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. My little ladykiller! He's really friendly too - he starts talking to all the moms and kids right off the bat. He also rescued a ladybug he found in the sandbox. He let her crawl onto his hand, then he took her over to a group of trees where he set her free in the grass.

C.J's a little slower to warm up to people, but I think a lot of that is her age. She loved the spring-mounted pony and she always loves slides. When I took her shoes off, she spent a lot of time burying her feet in the sand, using her little plastic shovel. There was this bouncy bridge-thing too that she loved - she would hold onto the railing and jump really high for someone so small.

I got a compliment on the kids too - the mom of the homeschooled girl (a really nice woman) told me that she thought my kids are very articulate for their ages.

Thankfully though, M got dismissed, so we don't have to worry anymore about jury duty right now.

A bit of a background introduction

Just so you'll know who's who when you're reading this... I'm G, age 32 (nearly), Sagittarius. Mother of two, wife to M, part-time grocery store employee. I'm an artist, gardener and voracious reader in my off-time. M is 36, currently between jobs, also an artist as well as a musician, bonsai creator, model rocket enthusiast, and at-home dad. C.O. is nearly 3 1/2, very energetic, intelligent and stubborn. C.J. is 20 months, and a wild child of a girl.

We live in northern California, ina house we are buying and restoring/remodeling. We plan to have it off the grid in the next 5-7 years. We are planning a big organic veggie garden. This is nice because it's pretty cold here now and I like to imagine a lush garden under the heat of the summer sun. Makes me feel warmer and cozy. I also spend some mental energy on planning the grass garden I'm putting in by the driveway. Lots of native plants planned for our very large yard. We need to rebuild the fence, well... more tearing down the current one and starting over. Six feet, solid, with maybe 2 more feet of lattice so we can grow vines on it. I like my privacy. More safety for the kids playing outside with a good fence too.

Things I like: cats purring, the smell of fresh basil, good strong hugs, watching my kids play together, the woodstove roaring on a cold rainy night, books that make me think, old black-&-white Addams Family episodes, icy cold glasses of water, the grandfather clock chiming....