Thursday, August 7, 2008

Endangered Park?

PlaygroundThe park where Sweetpea and I spent today has been the talk of the locals in the area for quite a while. They said that the Coggshall Park’s survival is endangered by logging. As a matter of fact, I had read from the paper that a machine that was used for cutting trees was put on fire by someone. He's probably angry about what was going on in the park.

There were not too many people at the park when we arrived. There were fewer geese and ducks, and the playground was empty. Sweetpea played alone for twenty minutes and I had a great time snapping photos of her. Then gradually, a few kids with their parents started coming in.

Although Sweetpea didn't personally know the kids, I noticed that she was extra friendly to them. She would tag along with them wherever they decided to go and play. It was funny watching her trying to win some new friends. But after two hours of playing, she still didn't want to go home. So I had to carry her back to the car.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

A Day at the Beach

Tita, waiiiit!Yesterday was different. It was Sweetpea's first time to go to the beach. It was my first time, too (here in the United States). The sun was already high when we arrived there. But the breeze was really nice.

It was exhausting bringing a huge backpack, two beach chairs, a cooler and another bag of sand toys and rice. I don't usually travel heavy, but I had no clue what to expect at the beach and so I had to bring whatever I thought was important.

Sandy had a beach cart but its wheels wouldn't roll in the sand. So she left me behind with the cart and the three kids, while she went around in search for Cheryl and Blessy.

After several minutes under the hot sun, she finally located Cheryl and Blessy who had set up an umbrella next to the lifeguard. Cheryl came over to help Sandy haul her things. The three kids and Sweetpea followed them to their place while I was left alone with the remaining cargo.

I noticed that the kids had been playing in the water without an adult but I didn't say a word. Maybe they thought it was alright to just watch the kids from afar especially because the lifeguard was very accessible. Or maybe they were confident that the kids would be safe because they had some sort of vest that kept them afloat.

Sweetpea doesn't know how to swim. And she didn't have any kind of swimming gear either. I wasn't happy and seeing how crowded the place was, I was not even in the right mood to simply sit down and enjoy most especially because all that Sweetpea wanted to do was to jump into the water with or without me.

We also ate our lunch late. And no matter how much I tried, Sweetpea refused to eat anything. I was worried. She only had a little bit of yogurt for breakfast.

My entire day was spent monitoring my little girl. A couple times, one of the twins would bring her to the water but after a few minutes, she was left alone to play with herself. I had no choice but to run and pick her up. I didn't want her to feel that I was disallowing her to play with the waves but I also didn't want to leave her unattended.

Although I didn't get the chance to change into my bathing suit, I was still wet from playing with Sweetpea in the water. I also didn't have the chance to change into dry clothes before we left. Overall, it was a fun day for my little girl, but it wasn't for me. I wouldn't want to bring her again to the beach without my other half.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Pool Time!

Best of FloatiesWe have decided that it was time for a splash in the pool. Sweetpea and I arrived first at Blessy's house. That was good because she had the chance to play with Vin and Nicko.

The day was hot and we didn't want the kids to jump into the water without lunch. So that was the rule: no lunch, no swim. And of course, Sweetpea (of all kids!) was starting to get impatient.

Blessy's pork roast was good. All of us were enjoying the meal when Blessy's co-worker, Dara came with her son, Damon. She's a Laosian - tanned skin with chinky eyes and pretty smile. We immediately shifted talking in English so she could join us in our conversation.

At the pool, Sweetpea tried all kinds of floaties around and decided that the floatie with a banana and palm tree was her favorite. For a little while, she and Zack were always together at the pool. Every once in a while, Jade and Jasmine would play with her. Then I taught her how to navigate her floatie with her arms and legs. After a few minutes, she didn't want anyone to push her floatie anymore.

But we had icecream, too (like usual!). So the kids hurried up to get out of the pool!