more than just a park

Thanks for the great compliments on my towels the other day! Because a few of you asked, here are the details...

My machine is a Brother PE-770 {it does embroidery only} and I bought it through Amazon. The original machine I got was a Brother SE-350, embroidery + sewing machine. I don't want to completely disparage that machine because there are lots of people who reviewed it with 5 stars on Amazon and obviously love it. I had a bad experience and can't recommend it, but obviously that's up to you. :-)

Hopefully I'll get the hang of all it's capable of soon and will be able to make lots of cute things for Asher, ladybug, and our friends! I don't know about you, but I loved getting personalized stuff for Asher as baby gifts. Hopefully our friends will too. Ha ha.

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Asher and I went to a wonderful place yesterday - Pullen Park in Raleigh! It's one part regular playground with swings and slides and such, and one part amusements with a train you can ride and a carousel. When I told Asher we were going to ride a 'neigh-neigh' he couldn't get in the car fast enough.

 

{notice his double skinned knees? Yeah, those are permanent these days. As soon as one heals a little he falls on the sidewalk and starts anew. Sigh - guess that's life with a little boy!}

Once I freed him from the car he was off in hot pursuit of some fun.

Silly Mommy thought getting to the park early would be smart since we'd beat the heat and the crowds a little, but I didn't think about a small boy who would want to immediately ride the carousel. We only arrived 15 minutes before the ride opened, but it felt a lot longer. To pass the time we climbed on the caboose they have displayed. Asher was very excited to "drive" it.

Then we hit the swings for a minute. Swings are usually A's favorite, but he was too jazzed about the upcoming neigh-neigh ride to enjoy it for long. :-)

Even after all of those adventures we still had 5 minutes to kill. Sheesh - time was running backwards, I'm pretty sure. Ash took those few minutes to grab a drink and stay hydrated.

Then finally, finally! it was time to ride. Someone was thrilled with the brown horse we found.

I love making him happy and this was such an easy way to do it. He adored the ride so much that when it came to a stop he cheered "yay!" and started clapping. I don't think the attendant ever got such rave reviews before. Ha!

After the ride was over I thought we'd have a big problem getting off but Asher was very understanding and gave his horse a hug and kiss good-bye while saying "thanks neigh-neigh!". Too cute. :-)

The train was up next on the agenda. Ash loves trains and kept telling me he wanted to ride the "train on a track". I'm not sure what the alternative is, but ok!

Another hit! He loved riding around and waving to the other people we passed.

If getting there before things opened was my first mistake, then buying him a fudgsicle was the second. Actually - I don't think it was. Sure, it melted everywhere and made a huge mess, but he loved it and hardly ever gets treats like that. We had wipes and new clothes so it was all good. :-)

There will come a day {in the not too far future} when it's going to be a lot harder for me to take him on carousel rides without help. Baby sister will be here and Mommy just won't have the same kind of one-on-one time with Asher that I do now. I want to enjoy these little days and treats as much as I can, while I can! I'm excited to have 2 little ones to love on, but it's undeniable that things will change. For now, my little guy and I are going to live it up - one neigh neigh ride at a time.