Free Fun

Every once in awhile I like to post about some sort of free fun we've found. I have no super creative fun tips for this post but boy oh boy did the little dude and I enjoy a weekend filled with free fun.

Friday evening we spent several hours in our backyard playing with the neighbor girl who's the same age as little Abe. After the two of them played together quite well for a very long time they decided that it would be a grand idea to start spraying me with water from these super neat squirt-ers that he got from the dollar store for a big helper reward. The things hold a good deal of water and pack a punch. Then I thought it'd be a grand idea to turn on the garden hose and start spraying the two of them. (I got permission from her dad) We spent the longest time spraying each other back and forth. They would run away screaming and then "sneak" back and attack me (I don't think it's possible for three year old to sneak). Needless to say we three ended the day thoroughly soaked to the bone, exhausted, and very satisfied with our evening of fun in the sun and water.

Saturday morning after a great nights sleep little Abe heard the neighbor girl outside again. She's only here on the weekends so he begged to head back out there to play again. They spent several hours playing together in the sun at his water table (and transferring water from his table to a bald spot in the backyard where they made a very impressive mud puddle). I spent the morning, close to three hours, sitting in a lawn chair and watching the two cuties playing together. I LOVE watching my son play with other kiddos. There's something that just amazes me about the interactions. At one point he told her that he loved her. I giggled and she just batted her eyes and said, "awe." He was thrilled with the "awe" and I had to laugh some more.

Saturday evening after his nap I called a friend to see if she had food processor I could use for the carrot pesto. My blender wasn't cutting it. She invited us over to use the food processor and we made plans to walk our kiddos to the playground. Pesto made and boys drumming session marked off we headed to the playground so the boys could play together. We ended the day again exhausted and very satisfied with our many wonderful interactions.

Sunday morning I asked my husband if he would go for a walk with me and our son. He FINALLY said yes. (I've been asking him almost every day for a week) Then he called his sister and his mom and invited them along. We left the house at 11:30, walked down to lake Michigan, strolled down the boardwalk and made it to the end of the pier before half of our group (his sister, mom, and nephew) realized they were beyond tired. At that point my mother in law offered to buy us all frozen yogurt I think in an attempt to encourage herself and the nine year old to make it back up the boardwalk. We stopped for frozen yogurt, her treat (although the bill was huge so we told her we'd pay her back our portion come Thursday), when we got back downtown.

It was a great walk! Good exercise. Pretty fun time with my hubby's family. An absolutely beautiful day! And my kid enjoyed every single minute of it. Despite the adults having sweat out almost every ounce of liquid in their bodies somebody (my husband) promised the kids they could go to the playground so once we finally made it back to the house my sister in law and I had to stop at the playground (only a few houses away from us) to let the kids play. We got back to the house at 3:30. We went for a four hour walk with only a frozen yogurt stop and a tiny stint at the playground. WOW!!!! To be honest, my husband and I usually do the same route in ninety minutes. It's amazing how much slower you walk when you've a hobbling mom in law in tow. I hope she's okay...

To sum it all up I spent $1.50 this weekend on a box of rice and a head of garlic so I could make the pesto. This weekend was jam packed with totally free fun, wonderful moments with friends and family, laughter, and LOTS of sunshine. It was the epitome of summer.