If there was a park like this near my house I would go out more!

Greetings blogger friends

I feel like I haven't been posting much in the last few days - we have been very busy with ummm hmmm well...just life I guess! I have been working like crazy to get my craft room/office all ready to go (yes I know, 21 months since it was painted - pictures will be posted when it is all finished) and getting caught up with all of the mundane household chores like the never ending pile of laundry (can someone please tell me why the Suburban Prince needs to wear 4 outfits in one day?!) and getting ready for Autumn!

Please be sure to enter my giveaway! The winner will be announced on Monday! Also, please visit my friend Pacokeco who made the adorable tags I have up for grabs!

Yesterday we went to visit the Suburban Prince's parents. They live in a small town about an hour north of us so we got to enjoy a nice drive through the country and had a chance to scope out more places to visit when the leaves are all in full colour

There is a fabulous playground where my in-laws live and to be honest if I was house hunting now, with a small child, this would be a HUGE factor in deciding where we would live. The town we live in now is mostly retired types and teenage moms (a new phenomenon). We moved here for the golf and the marinas - after 3 years and no baby I had pretty much given up so a child-friendly place wasn't high on my list - in fact when I saw no children live on this street I was sold! Fast forward 3 years, some stretch marks, a c-section and lots of sleepless nights I find myself wishing we lived somewhere with more kid/mommy culture. When I see other moms posting on the mommy boards and blogs about their experiences at the playground (other moms who don't watch their kids, kids who take other kids toys etc) I feel like I am missing out on something. When we take the Little Prince to the park we are usually the only people there. That's right, just us. Imagine taking your little one to the park and there are no other children, no other moms. All the time.

Yesterday when we got to the park I was floored! There were at least 5 moms and lots of kids running around! The moms were even *gasp* talking to each other!!! I couldn't help but feel very, very, very jealous. After all this time struggling to have some sort of social life while keeping my child entertained in a town where most of the babies go to school with their mommies I saw what I have been so isolated from.

Don't get me wrong...I have a very full social life. I have no problem filling our house when we have a party and I/we get invited out several times a month but what is missing is somewhere to go with my Little Prince. Somewhere the other mommies might go to as well. I only have 1 friend with a child the same age as my child. Weird eh!

Anyhoooo back to my original story...so we go to the local playground close to my in-laws' house and the Little Prince had a great time! There is a splash pad, swings and lots of big structures to climb on for hours of make-believe fun! To top it off, the park is right on the lake! The scenery is beautiful! Standing facing the lake puts the main street of town right behind me. There are lots of nice little shops to spend time and money in.

(Nice view eh! Apparently the park is full of kids all summer!)

(Can you guess how I found out the splash pad is motion activated?)

(Lots of slides and climb-y things!)

(Check out the crazy swing! It closes up and locks the child in - for safety of course!)

After we played in the park and walked around the town we went for dinner. My in-laws kept telling us about a fabulous Japanese restaurant they went to and how shocked they were by it! It looks like a little hole-in-the-wall greasy spoon diner in the middle of nowhere! What a difference on the inside! This is a serious lesson in not judging a book by it's cover - inside is a beautiful Japanese experience! Even the hostess/waitress was wearing a kimono! I didn't even think to bring my camera in since I wasn't expecting much - next time for sure!

We sat in a little enclosed booth which was perfect since we had the Little Prince with us. He settled himself on the banquette between us to nibble on the snacks I brought for him. He has always been a bit hard to predict when it comes to food - sometimes he will eat tandoori chicken and roasted brussell sprouts and sometimes he refuses anything but Cheerios...mealtime has always been a bit of a guessing game.

We ordered Bentos and I couldn't believe how big there were! They were twice the size of any Bento I had ever had before! At this point the Little Prince decided standing on the banquette would give him a better view (he is only 17 months so height isn't his strong suit) and the adults all dug in! Hot and spicy chicken, rice, salad, sea veggies and tempura veggies and shrimp...which is what caught the Little Prince's eye! Suddenly he reached over and grabbed a HUGE tempura shrimp from the Suburban Prince's Bento and plunked himself down to get to work on it! All we could do was stare at him as he ate the whole thing - we did manage to wrestle the tail from him though! All this time I have been trying to offer the Little Prince toast with butter and jam when I really should've been trying something higher up the food chain! Japanese food!

If you are looking for some fun ideas for school lunches google 'bento' and click on 'images'. There are some absolutely amazing ones! Some moms put a LOT of work into lunches for their kids based on the Bento style!

So that was our adventure yesterday. Today we are staying home to keep plugging along with the house. Tomorrow we are going out with 2 other couples for dinner to celebrate all of our anniversaries - we all live on the same small street and all got married in September! One couple has been married for 32 years, one for 20 and we have been married for 6! We are trying a new restaurant in town so I will take my camera in case something interesting happens!

Have a fabulous day!