The Last Days of Summer

All summer I've wanted to take Rainah back to Millennium Park to play at the Sprayground and beach, but it just never worked out (it didn't help that it was not a very warm summer)! So since we had no plans today, we decided to head out there for the morning. We went to the sprinkler area first, but Rainah wasn't too thrilled for some reason, so we went over to the beach. She had fun playing in the sand and water, and even ran into a friend from Gymboree. We hung out there for about and hour and then went back over to the sprinkler park where she did play for a bit- I wish we could have gotten out there with some other people this summer! We can't believe it's already the end of summer... it went by so fast! Not at all ready for the cold weather!

Showing Daddy how she can put her face under the water

Over at the "Sprayground"

Millennium Park Fun

Today Rainah and I ventured out to a place I've heard about once or twice, but didn't know a whole lot about. I'd heard there was a beach, a large lake, and a splashpad. I went online a few times to try and see what it was like, but there were really no photos and it was a bit of a drive, so until today, we never checked it out. My Bad! This park is incredible! The "Sprayground" was beautiful and lots of fun- where were these when I was a kid?
We met up with friend Leslie and Audrey for a bit. A bunch of the kids (Rainah and Audrey included) became much more interested in a large puddle that had formed near us than the sprinklers, but whatever... they had fun.
Then Aunt Kris, Uncle Will, Stephen, and Isabelle came and we spent a few hours keeping cool with them. We even had a nice lunch on the beach.
Rainah was a bit timid of the sprinklers, but when we went across to the beach, she was all about the water there! I could hardly keep up with her. Of course, her little inexperienced legs had a hard time keeping her upright in the wet sand and she toppled over a few times, but kept going back for more. Stephen and Isabelle swam out to the bouy, and it was all I could do to keep Rainah from following them.
We had so much fun and left a little after 1:00. Rainah fell asleep in the car (of course just a few miles from home). We were listening to a children's cd which contained a song with a cow mooing. I hear a little moo from the back seat and turned around to see her with her eyes closed but with a little smile. When the song was over, her eyes were still closed, but I heard her say, "All done".
Unfortunately I couldn't just put her right in her crib when we got home due to the immense amount of sand she had accumulated in her suit. So we took a quick bath, and I'm sure I'll be finding sand everywhere for the next few weeks.
Hopefully we can go back soon! I loved it (I think Rainah did, too!)


































Poor Stephen... sorry about your shoes, buddy!


















Stephen and Isabelle WAYYYY out there




















The cousins (of course Rainah's eyes would be closed!)