Chutes and Ladders

Three Rivers Park District manages Bush Lake Park near our home, which boasts nature trails, paved bike trails and an impressive outdoor slide and climbing park. In celebration of Memorial Day, we loaded up some, but not all of our 'kid carrying equipment' for a 2 mile nature hike around the lake and play time at 'Chutes and Ladders.'

Since we only brought one 'device' for both Collin and Aaron, one of the boys always had to be walking. At one point, Aaron staged a sit in...absolutely refusing to take another step. Adam and I, with Collin in the stroller, continued walking. Collin looked back at us and said, "Aaron just wants a little help, Mom and Dad." He then crawled out of the stroller, walked down to where Aaron was sitting in the mulch, knelt down to talk to him, took his hand, led him up the hill back to us...and finally, let him ride in the stroller during Collin's turn.



It was nice to spend a holiday weekend at home...enjoying our family and our neighborhood. Our tendency is to fill our schedule with travel to various locations around the Midwest. Last summer we didn't have a 'free' weekend from April to September. By spending some quality time at home, we are realizing we don't always have to be traveling to have quality time together...in fact...some of our most cherished moments may end up being those that we spend close to our home.