More Pics from the Splash Park

This is a continuation of the few pictures that I posted up yesterday of Liv and Sebastian's day at the Splash Park - there's a LOT of pictures, I know. But I can't help it - I'm obsessed! Actually, there were just so many good ones it was hard to weed them out.

Before I continue, I just want to know why Evansville doesn't have one of these! Seriously, they're amazing! Apparently, Boonville, Princeton, Petersburg, and Henderson all have Splash Parks - why not Evansville?

Oh, well. It's not that long of a drive to get to Boonville, and the kids definitely had a blast...! Oh! And they both had 50spf sunscreen on - as did I :o) No sunburns on this day, thank you very much.

Sebastian ran right in as soon as we got there

Livia was just a bit timid at first...

But it didn't take her long at all to warm up to the Splash Park!

I love this little look she gave me! I could tell exactly what she was thinking: Wow!! I Like!!

Sebastian was such a blast - a very photogenic & fun kid

And Liv was just a hoot!

I loved watching her discover all the new things in the Splash Park.

And then she saw something else...

A little boy right at her age!

OK, lil Miss Flirt - let's see what else there is here!
(Kidding - I think all she cared about was that this was somebody her size!)

We headed over to the Lake & see what else the park had in store for us.

Sebastian made sure Livie didn't get anywhere near the edge of the lake

And I told him I didn't know what I'd do there without him!

I still can't get over how similar those two looked! I suppose it's the blonde hair & blue eyes...

A shot similar to the one I had up yesterday, but it's just so good I couldn't resist again!

And Liv loved the flowers - I couldn't get any of her smelling them, but it was so cute!

And she found one on the ground... I hope it wasn't part of what the park had planted!

By this time, we were all getting quite toasty again, so we headed back for the water...

And it was back into the splash park to cool down!

And for more fun!

Wait... I wonder what she's looking at now?

"Another friend! I love people my size!"
At least that's what I hope she was thinking ;o)

"Wait... Where'd he go?"
This one was quite busy - almost even more so than you!

But don't worry - he came back...

With a kiss!

I didn't do a great job of capturing it in this photo, but they gave each other a kiss - and it was SO cute! I'm gonna have to lock her up at this rate though - Kidding!

After her little friend left, Liv had some fun playing in the mist.

And 'Bastian had some fun getting some goofy shots! (Although they actually turned out quite good)

Then he & Liv went off to the side for some fun of their own...

Livia thought Sebastian was hilarious!

She loved dancing with him as they both sang

(Yes, Livie already loves to sing & dance!)

After all the singing, dancing, splashing, and exploring, these two were getting pretty hungry. So we took a break & went to McDonalds.

Can you tell that Livia's not a huge fan of sitting still?

Sebastian chowed down on his ice cream cone (his special treat)

While Liv learned to drink out of a juice box!

She was so cute - and drank the whole thing!

I even ended up getting her another since she did such a good job with the first.

And Sebastian had lots of fun with his action figures

Oh! I almost forgot - when we got our meals, Livia discovered that she loves McDonald's chicken nuggets & fries - no surprise there, huh?

Then it was back to the Splash Park!

As soon as we got back to the splash park, Livia went right in!

She went straight for these little guys that squirted right at her size.

She just loves the water!

Liv also started to figure out how that water was coming out...

And tried to get it to stop...

With very little success! (Much to her delight!)

Within minutes of our arrival back, she was soakin' wet!

Then (miraculously) I decided to put away the camera for a bit, and just have fun with the kids. I figured that getting a little wet in the splash park wouldn't be that big'a deal, seeing as I was thoroughly soaked with sweat at this point anyway!

But finally, it was time to get going...

I changed Liv into a little dress I had packed as a spare, and we spent just a little time on the playground to dry out & for some last-minute fun for the kids.

Livia just LOVED swinging!

Really, though - what kid doesn't! With the wind in your hair, and the breeze between your toes... it just feels like you're flying! At least that's what I like to think :o)

Am I NUTS?!!

Oh, most definitely YES.

But today even more so!

Several weeks ago, a good friend of mine asked me to watch over her future step-son, Sebastian, today. This was the only day she needed me, as she & her fiance were both working, and I had no problem whatsoever with doing so. Livie loves making new friends!

I had already decided that I was going to take him & Livia to the zoo today. I knew she really enjoys it, and what kid doesn't? What I didn't take into consideration is that today was forecast to be the hottest yet of the year!

So what were the actual temps?

Evansville's High Today: 100 degrees F
Heat Index: 107 degrees F !!!

So even though we got there right around 10:00 this morning, we were all sweating with minutes of our arrival. So it should come as no surprise that I let the kids do this:

Get Wet!!!

Mesker Park Zoo has an area just for kids that includes a jungle gym/slide, monkeys, otters, and (most importantly on days like today) a little water play area.

I could just see the looks of relief, and then of sheer joy on Livia & Sebastian's faces!

Livia loved getting surprised by the bursts of water.

She also loved 'tasting' the water... The Mom side of me was going, "Ung...! Ew-ish! Who knows if that water's even clean!!" But then my kid side argued, "Aw, come on. You'd be doing it too if you were in their shoes."

Shoot, if we were the only ones there, I probably would have been doing the same thing!

I literally had to drag Livia away kicking & screaming, even though she was absolutely drenched. I wanted to let the kids dry out just a bit before heading back home! So for the rest of our short visit, they were pretty comfortable it seemed...

While I could just feel the sweat dripping from my brow, back, and (ew!) forming a little river between my b-0-0-b-s (that's right, I don't want anyone Googling that word & landing here!) Thankfully there were a couple of cooled buildings that came to my rescue. Needless to say, we were outa there by 12:30!

But real quick - just a few pics of a couple of very friendly animals we saw while there...

A cute little otter

And a VERY friendly swan!

I don't know her name - or even if she has one for that matter... But I called her Sheila. :o) She ate animal crackers literally right out of my hand!

Which is how I got this great shot of her.

I'm sure we'll be going back to the zoo again soon... preferably when the weather's not fit for fryin' eggs outside! But definitely within the next month or so. I asked one of the workers while I was there if the Amazonia part of the zoo was nearly completed. And it's very close to being done...

So for all you out there who live in or around Evansville - Mesker Park Zoo will be opening it's brand new Amazonia section in 2 weeks!!! I'm SO excited!!!!

Hope everyone out there survived enjoyed this lovely Monday! Much love to you all & God Bless.


*Note - I didn't put any pics of Sebastian - Livie's new friend - on here since I didn't really ask if it was OK to do so... Even though I'm picture-crazy for my daughter, I promise I didn't leave him out!

Adventures & Trips

This past week, my husband took a week of vacation time off from work. We didn't have any set plans to really go anywhere... he just really needed a break. And it worked out great for me since we were able to spend a lot of time together. Plus he had a very relaxing week & was able to really work on his blog. He schedules his posts in advance, and has actually written all the way in to September (as I struggle to just keep up during the week!)

Well, there were a couple of days that we took little trips to have fun & be together as a little family...

Wednesday we went out to lunch at Shylers Bar-B-Que - one of our all time favorites! We gave Livia a piece of lemon to entertain her during the short wait for our meal...
At first, she wasn't sure what to think of it!

But after she actually tried it... instead of making a bunch of sour/yucky faces, she actually seemed to like it!

We had a fantastic meal, then Perry said that he wanted to take me on a little adventure... I wondered what he had up his sleeve!

It turned out that he was taking us to downtown Newburgh - an area he knows quite well (he grew up there) and I barely know at all...! Despite the dreary weather (and the small bouts of rain) we had such a great time exploring all the little shops & businesses lined up along the river.

We went into a little used bookstore & got a TON of books for Livia, then we checked out a few other places. All the while, just enjoying our company together and the wonderful scenery around.

One of my favorite places was The Country Store:
It caught my eye right off with the benches (click to enlarge) one side had "Republicans" on the bench, and the other said "Democrats" - I couldn't help but burst out laughing!

Then as I went inside, I really fell in love... It was so neat! They seemed to have just a little bit of everything. From food, candy, & spices, to jewelry, clothes, & nick-knacks - plus a beautiful selection of flowers! I got a really big kick out of it.

And I even got a necklace :o)


After we'd walked and looked for at least a couple of hours, we loaded up into the car to drive to the overlook of the Newburgh Dam.

It was so pretty, and you could tell that when the dam was 1st built, it must have drew in pretty large crowds to the overlook. We were the only ones there on this day, but I'm sure there are many folks who really enjoy the view & picnic area there on a regular basis.

We then went to see one of Perry's customers (he wanted to introduce me) and finished up the day with ice cream.

And to end the perfect day, Livia fell fast asleep on the way home!

~~~~~

Then yesterday, (Friday) we decided to take a little day trip over to New Harmony. It was Perry's idea, but I'm sure I've talked about wanting to go there with him so much that it was totally drilled into his head! (I'll explain later why New Harmony is so important to me & my family...)

Livia was unfortunately a bit of a grouch... She cried & screamed nearly all the way there (luckily only about an hour or less from our house)
And she continued to cry quite a bit once we were there - any time the stroller stopped, she started (crying that is) After a bit of quiet walking outside, Perry & I weren't the least bit surprised that
Liv
Just
Conked
Out...

Too tired to take it anymore!

And though we love having our fun-loving, energetic daughter wide awake, once in a while it's so nice to completely devote our attention to each other.

And as we strolled and talked throughout the historic area of New Harmony, we saw some lovely sights...

The Roofless Church

Beautiful gardens & fountains

The Granary - back in the day, it was the town's "safe house" to store valuables and for the townsfolk to stay in case of bad weather. I believe it was built in the early 1800's, and was completely restored in 1997.

Looking down on the stairway in The Granary

Today, it's used for festivities, weddings, receptions, parties, and the sort.

Our walk then took us to the place I most looked forward to visiting: The Workingmen's Institute - Museum & Library.

One of the 1st things we saw was a coffin from the 1800's...

My, people were much more petite in those times! (I'm only 5'4")

And Livia was STILL asleep!

Which gave me time to show Perry a piece of my family's history - once I finally found it, that is! I completely overlooked it, but thankfully after the 3rd or 4th sweep spotted it...

So, what is it, huh? Any guesses?

Nope, it's not a hat box...

It's a little baby coffin (or casket)

Don't get sad though. Feel free to click to enlarge any of the pics to read the specifics, but I'll tell you all what it's about here too...

Way back when in the early 1800's when my Great-great-great-great grandparents decided to come to America from Germany, they had a very little girl, Caroline (my Great-great-great-great Aunt) Since Caroline was so young, they didn't expect her to make the journey to The United States alive.

Her father made this little casket - painted it & decorated it - for Caroline so that they would at least be able to bury her on American soil (instead of having to throw her body overboard)

Well, Caroline made it to America alive!! So, today that little casket sits in the New Harmony Workingmen's Institute - Museum & Library.

It was so wonderful to actually see this little coffin after so long (not since I was a little girl had I seen it) and now I have it photographed & documented for my future generations! (Well, OK - the Museum does as well, but still.)

After the Museum, Livia had definitely woken up and was ready to get up & run around - and that she did!

She even made a little friend right at her age - they were so cute "talking" and playing with each other!

And of course, Livia did get to RUN!!!

Finally, we made one last stop before leaving New Harmony - the labyrinth, made with bushes:

Me & Livie right outside of it

We had so much fun!

"Wave Livia!"

So, there ya have it. Our week of fun & adventures!

We also had some fun at the house - and Perry loved seeing his little daughter so much (and in such cute clothes)
Oh yeah, one last thing - Livie has learned "flip, flip, flip!" She'll get in that position, and I'll help her to roll over - it's SO adorable!

Much love to you all and God Bless!