Enjoying the Pinellas Trail

Pinellas County has an awesome pedestrian trail that's over thirty-four miles long! Quintin and I pass sections of it frequently while we're in St. Petersburg and Quintin recently began begging to walk on the "bridges" he saw above the busy roads we use. I'm usually unable to stop, and have had to refuse him a number of times. Today, however, we had a few extra minutes, since we're staying in St. Petersburg with my parents tonight to save some on gas & time (I'll be working in St. Pete each day this week). Quintin was VERY excited to finally get the chance to explore a pedestrian bridge, and RAN up the long, steep ramp leading over the road! He waved enthusiastically to passing cars for a very long time, lol, and even got some waves in return! Mommy got some free exercise (I've been longing for a gym membership but, obviously, could spend the time instead running up and down pedestrian bridges with my precious son!) :-D We've been getting a lot of rain this week, and there were puddles galore; Quintin managed to run through every single one, I think! I wish I could have gotten better pictures, since Quintin had such an ecstatic expression the entire time we were up there, but because he was constantly running & jumping, getting pictures was pretty tricky, lol; I'll have to simply treasure the mental images I took today;-). It began pouring rain just as we ran down the ramp towards the lot where I'd left the car. I'd parked quite a distance from the ramp, but fortunately, there was a dollar store very near, so we ran in and bought an umbrella. Quintin loved getting the job of holding it over us, so the purchase was a great final touch to our special time together :-D

Back 2 School Bash FUMC!

More Fun at the Back 2 School Bash!

Back 2 School Bash @ FUMC Zephyrhills

Our church hosted a Back to School bash a couple of weeks ago -- what fun! Our dear friends, "Auntie" Coral & "Uncle" Tom Voorhees, donated enough hot dogs & watermelons to feed a small country, & brought their awesome bounce house & water slide to share :-D In addition, the church rented a very large bounce house & water slide and hosted a pot luck lunch with all kinds of goodies! The parish nurses set up shop with free first aid kits & games aimed at teaching kids healthy habits. Mommy completely forgot about the planned event, so I was stuck in my church dress all day, lol -- fortunately, however, I had towels, sunscreen & some water friendly clothes for Quintin packed in the car (sometimes it pays to drive a jam packed car, lol!). We had a wonderful afternoon playing with the other kids & youth -- they are all incredibly loving towards Quintin, and always take time to talk & play with him. I'm especially thankful for Emily & Courtney -- Each took Quintin to play in the bounce houses and water slides! Emily, in particular, stood in the loooooong line for the large water slide three different times -- The first two times, Quintin begged to go, then decided when he got to the top that it looked too scary! He did have a blast the third time, but swallowed a lot of water at the bottom and did not ask to go again after that ;-). We spent most of our time on the smaller water slide the Voorhees brought, playing with Holden Voorhees & his cousin, Sarah Holden, Quintin's special friends. Mommy had a great time too, since I got to chat with other mommies Coral & Kelly:-D Poor Daddy missed out on all of the fun, since he and Uncle David were fixing Wade's car (David's stepson learned the hard way that oil changes are extremely important for a working car!). Quintin & I got home from our day of play just in time to enjoy an improvised dinner with Daddy & Uncle David -- what a treat!

Toys R Us Kid

Recently, Quintin & I had some free time before we'd arranged to meet Daddy at the playground. I was inspired to find an indoor play area, since it was a very hot day, and decided (our options were pitifully few!) on Toys R Us. I was a little nervous, since we're on a very tight budget & couldn't, unfortunately, bring any toys home with us, but Quintin had an awesome time "visiting" the toys! First, we played on the mechanical train at the entrance (Mommy did cough up enough for a ride, lol!). After walking down aisle after aisle of fantastic toys of every description (Quintin kept yelling, "Look, Mommy, Look!"), we settled down in the train area -- Quintin was fascinated by the store's demo train table, and played, completely absorbed, for almost an hour! I don't usually have the opportunity to so closely observe his independent play, since I use these times to work, and felt incredibly blessed by the chance to watch Quintin explore the train's village & intricate track system with such joy!

A couple weeks later, I passed a garage sale with a train table displayed for $20. I bought the thing, resolving to sell it immediately if Kevin objected (he didn't, of course!). We don't have many tracks or trains, since this one didn't come with any of its own (it did, however, come with a few buildings!) -- but, Quintin still loves it & begs for Daddy & I to join him in playing with it each night :-D We are such a lucky family!

EPIC Game Night #2

Our church EPIC group (designed for young adults and young families) hosted its second potluck and game night at the Harrison's house on a Friday night a few weeks ago. Dawn Harrison made an awesome ham and there were plenty of great sides & deserts to go along with it -- thanks, Kelly, for your awesome snow cone skills :-D. The night's fun lay in an endless game of Phase 10 -- which became, of necessity, Phase 5, lol! Angela Hernandez watched all of our children (nine total -- she earns a special badge of honor!), even after they became insanely tired & cranky (Quintin locked himself in the bathroom, among other things!).

As usual, the night was one of great fun, food & fellowship -- thanks to all who shared! This month's date & location TBA!