A day at the (Wheeling) park!

First of all, this might be the cutest thing I've ever seen. Owen keeps trying to rest his head on Frankie.
Today, we decided we should go out for lunch and take Owen to the park, because the weather has been in the mid sixties and sunny! There are still heaps of snow all over the place, but it's melting, slowly but surely.

We were pretty sure he would be in a good mood after we found him like this:


Owen can be kind of timid. If we are in a store somewhere, he will ride in a cart patiently, or he will want carried. Even though he has walked for several months, he is very shy about it in public. He will just stand in one place and look around until he gets nervous and starts tugging on his clothes and then starts crying.

We were afraid the park would be the same way. We were wrong! At first, he didn't want us to set him down, but after a quick trip down the big kids' slide with Daddy, he was a little more comfortable. We walked over the little kids' swings, and put him in. He was only nervous about it for a minute, and then he was all. over. it. He loved it! He squealed, he giggled, he smiled. He adored the swings.

A little nervous, with his big blue eyes...

Starting to enjoy this...

Wow, this thing goes fast!

Okay, I love it.

I don't want to ever get off this thing.

Then we let him go down the little kids' slide by himself. Loved it. Wasn't even nervous. First time down, smiling all the way.


We were extremely excited to see that he wanted to walk around and explore things. At first he stood still for a few minutes... then took a few tentative steps... then he was basically running around the playground. He also walked through the grass by himself. In true boy fashion, he headed straight for the mud and walked through as many puddles as he could find. When we picked him up to leave, he actually cried and tried to get back down. I think I have a little outdoorsman.

Is it okay to walk around in my awesome shoes?

Puddles!
Daddy, keeping Owen away from the mud.

And thanks to "Billy's Mom" for taking a family picture!

This sums up the day for me, pretty much...

And, I'm in love. Clint somehow ruined his cell phone charger, so he went to Verizon to buy a new phone. He hadn't bought one in over three years. I just got a new one last February (my beloved red Blackberry). But, the dude at the cell phone place said we were both eligible for a new phone. Since we already had the "smart phone" package, Clint decided he would finally cave and get a Blackberry. There was a deal where you could get two Blackberrys for $250 with a $200 mail in rebate!!!! So, I am the proud owner of a new 8530 Blackberry Curve. It's so fast. It takes awesome pictures (all the above were taken with my phone.) It's sleek. It's easy. I love it. And Clint is so fascinated with it, we barely spoke last night, he was playing with his phone! He doesn't know how he ever lived without it. I think I have made a lifelong commitment to the Blackberry brand.

Me: It's lavender, which is probably the last color I would ever buy, but I think it's pretty.

Clint: I think it's more of a jasmine color.

(Me and Laura stare at Clint like he has two heads.)

And thanks Laura, Shawn and Andy for having us over last night! We had a blast! And thanks for burning The Hurt Locker for us!