Exploring around town

Audrey and I walked along the nature trail from our neighborhood to the community center one evening after supper. It didn't take as long as I thought it would. We played on the playground and ran up and down the big hill until the sun was almost setting. I had to carry Audrey piggyback on the way home, and it was a 15 minute walk.

A few days ago, the girls and I went to the community center. We drove, because it was a hot afternoon, and I didn't want to have to carry them BOTH back! It's less than 5 minutes by car. The nature trail is unpaved, okay for mountain biking (unless it's wet), but I wouldn't want to try to drag a kid in a wagon over that trail, and it's not something Mary could ride her scooter on. We played in the learning garden for a while and picked up some information about the pool. The next day we decided to go for a swim during the open swim (non-lesson) time. It's an indoor pool, but one of the walls is all windows, and the roof lets in some natural light as well, so it doesn't look as much like a pool in a gym as I thought it would. It's very close to our house and relatively cheap compared to the private swim-and-racquet clubs around here, but the water was COLD!!!!! We didn't stay very long because the girls started shivering too much. They were glad to get into the nice, hot sun outside.

Another place we went this week was the Forest Theater. It's one of the places we can walk to from the trails near our house. We stopped by, in the car, on our way home from the community center. The girls had a great time walking up the sides and down the steps. There are some towers to explore on each side of the back row, and another stone area that might serve as a box office or projection room, we weren't sure what. The stage area is just dirt, so the girls used their heels to dig messages in the dirt. The night after we moved here, there was a storytelling show at the Forest Theater, but it was pouring and thundering, so we decided not to go. I'll have to keep an eye out for other family-friendly plays and shows there, though.