Who doesn't like a playdate?

The nice weather we've been having over the last couple of weeks has led to a LOT more time to get out and enjoy ourselves. There's just something about a day of sunshine and warm temperatures that makes it seem just this side of criminal to spend the day indoors! (Mind you, we've now hit what looks to be a two week stretch of clouds and rain, but that's neither here nor there:-)

I have to admit, Rusty definitely gets the bulk of the playdates around here, but I've had a lot of fun just being outside. We're very fortunate to have a fantastic park just down the street and we've been making good use of it. Here's a couple of pictures from a day when just the schnitz and I were hanging out at the park and then a week ago when we had the opportunity to hang out with some of our friends.

The schnitz ALWAYS find a puppy to love on while we're at the park.

I had to include this just because the expression on his face cracked me up!

My friend, Amy's, little girl...isn't she just the cutest thing you've ever seen??

My son is part monkey, we're pretty sure. He started climbing this thing about six months ago...hopefully our health insurance will cover the heart attack he's going to give me one of these days!

Me: "You're supposed to go down on your hiney!" Schnitz: "Heh heh heh heh....BYE!"

Does anyone else think that this child truly needs a dog??

I've always wondered about the wisdom of putting a rusty horse statue in a park full of kiddos, but the schnitz found him absolutely fascinating.

Taking a break from playing to eat a bit of lunch.

Ahhhh....life is good!

In addition to our more "spontaneous" playdates, the schnitz is also part of a playgroup that meets every Friday. There are four of us moms and six kiddos that are involved in this. We each host one Friday per month. One of the cool things about this is that two of my friends live out in the country. One has two horses which you know is a hit. The other has a big, shaggy, black dog which the schnitz thinks is just fantastic stuff. I personally like the drive out to their homes and think it's great for the kids to have so much room to run around and have fun! It's especially nice now that it's spring. Things are finally starting to turn green and last week was just really pretty. It was all quite blissful, to be honest, until the dog actually caught the ground squirrel he was digging for. That was a bit more "circle of life" intensive than I think either Elysha or I were prepared for. What can I say? It's been a really long time since I've lived in the country and witnessed dogs doing what dogs do! Let's just say that we quickly decided maybe movie time wasn't such a bad idea:-)

See the frantic digging? Yeah...this is before he was successful:-)

And finally, I actually got to go on a "playdate" of my own! (Don't you think I deserve one?:-) We have a museum, here in town, called the Wildlife Experience that also has an IMAX theatre. Every couple of months they have an event called "Martini and a Movie". Basically, you show up at 6:30 for martinis, appetizers (cheese and crackers, tortilla wrap and a skewer of veggies), and dessert. Then at 7:30, you go to the theatre where they are waiting with fresh movie popcorn (yum!) and watch the featured movie on the big, big screen! Well, this past Thursday the movie they were showing was "Sixteen Candles". How fun is that? I managed to convince two of my highly entertaining friends, Laura and Jeannine, that this was absolutely something that we needed to do. Our only hitch is that Laura didn't buy her ticket ahead of time and it sold out:-( However, she stayed for the first hour and we've made plans for a make-up, so it's all good! Here's a sneak peek at how relaxed three moms can look on a night out without the kiddos;-)

I think it's going to be a fun summer.