A Park and a Date

This morning I took the kids to a state park. Sarah had invited us to join them there a few weeks ago, but we weren't able to join them the last time. Today we did! Several moms (plus one dad) from church brought their kids to the park this morning. The kids enjoyed playing in the sand, swimming in the lake, and playing on the playground. Ian thought the water was too cold. Nadia did at first, but then she got used to it. Really for a lake in PA the water wasn't that cold, but compared to the temperature of the water in her kiddie pool or the ocean in FL, it was cold. We met Sarah at her house around 9am. I thought Ian would sleep in the car since he had awakened at 6:45 and usually goes down after he's been up for 2 hours. He screamed until we got there (about 9:35am). We put the portable DVD player in the car so at least Nadia was content. We stayed a little less than 2 hours. I had planned to stay a bit longer, but since Ian had been awake for amost 5 hours straight, it was time to go. He fell asleep immediately and slept for over an hour (the final part of his nap took place while the car was parked in our garage). I wish I had been able to get some pics. Ian looked so cute in his swim suit, sitting on a blanket on the sand playing with a toy. It was impossible to take pics while watching 2 small kids without Paul there. Thankfully some of the other moms helped me out since the next youngest child there was 4 years old. It was a gorgeous day. Not too hot, not too cold - just perfect for a day at the lake!

I thought Nadia would eat lunch when we got home, but instead she went down for her nap because she still refused to eat three bites of sliced carrots. The scenario was similar to the tale of 3 green beans from 2 days ago. She refused to eat any carrots last night and again refused this morning. She only had water before leaving for the state park. Some kids were eating crackers around 11am at the park, and I didn't want to create a scene so I let her have 3 peanut butter cracker sandwiches. This evidently was enough that although she was hungry and thirsty, she still wouldn't eat the carrots at noon when we got home. After her nap, she started to refuse again, but then finally she ate her 3 small carrots and ate a late lunch (around 3pm). When she's a little older, I do plan on allowing her to have a few foods (maybe 3?) that she can always refuse to eat. I got this idea a couple of years ago from my sister. She said her husband's family had that policy growing up. I like the idea. If my parents had used that rule, I can guarantee you that the number 1 food I would have put on my "do not eat" list would have been brussel sprouts. Although there are many veggies I'm not keen on eating, that is the only one that makes me throw up. Thank goodness my mom didn't serve it often! YUCK! If there are other things she doesn't care for (beyond the 3 or however many we decide to allow to be on her "list"), I won't mind just giving her a small portion of those, but for now I want her to try a little of everything. She ate carrots and green beans and such without any problem when I was making her baby food from frozen veggies. I hope she does end up liking green beans and carrots as those are the two I serve the most often because Paul and I like both of them.

Then the babysitter arrived around 4pm. We went out to celebrate our 9th anniversary, which will be next Wednesday. I had a coupon for buy one meal get one free for TGIF, plus we have gift cards for that restaurant, so that's where we went. It's funny but there was a span of at least 12 years when I never went to a TGIF and now in the last year I've been several times. The prices at Olive Garden and Red Lobster have gone up a lot in the last few years so we've been going to Applebee's and TGIF more as we also like the food at those places. Paul got his usual - steak and mashed potatoes. I got a salad that had strawberries, pecans, and chicken. It was tasty! I splurged and got dessert. It was too rich (a brownie dessert). In the future I'll stick with their peanut butter pie if I get dessert there. Then we went to Lowe's and bought 12 quart size glass jars for my applesauce making endeavor, 2 gallons of light blue paint for our bedroom, and a garbage disposal for our kitchen. Our last stop was at Target for a new swimming pool for the kids as ours got a hole in it this week. I know that Target and Lowe's aren't exactly romantic places, but it was nice to have 3.5 hours alone with my hubby.