My favorite season is fall. The weather starts to cool off just a little, the leaves start to fall, and there is a sense of Christmas just around the corner. Last year, my babyniana did not get to experience fall as she should. Last year, I did everything to let her experience it by having her pictures taken with wonderful fall leaves, dressing up and passing out candy on Halloween, and even having her "Baby's First Thanksgiving" outfit on. But unfortunately, she was sleeping most of the time being only 3 months old.
Now at 14 (almost 15 months) and a proficient explorer, this little adventurer was ready to experience fall. Lucky for us, today was just a great day to do that. Grandma Kathy, Niana, and I had gone shopping last week for warmer clothes for Niana. So today, having been much cooler and cloudy, was the perfect day to try out the new "back to school" clothes.
I was so very anxious to go. I was ready to pack a lunch, load up in the cars, and have our day relaxing at the park. But being a baby who rules the world, she decided it was nap time just before lunch. THEN she slept for 3 hours. SO, finally at 3:30 we took off to Fresno. When I lived on the west side of Fresno, I would frequently visit a small park in NW Fresno. I remembered it had a wonderful children's playground and a ponding basin that was the home to some ducks and geese. (Oso de Oro Park for those of you in the area).
We finally arrived and Niana went straight for the slides. She has been on the baby slides in the nursery at church and she also has a slide into her baby splash pool. So she knew exactally what they were for. She stepped up the big stairs and flew down with glee. After we spent some time on one thing, I ushered her over to the next and new exciting thing. I have never seen so much excitement on her face than each time we played with a new part of the playground. Eventually we got tired of the playground. Well, ok, I should restate that..... Mommy and Daddy got tired of the playground. So we moved on. We kept exploring the park. Leaves, sand, bushes, trees! It was all so new and such fun. We even went over to chase some friendly ducks. Then, it was over. Just as it always is..... Mommy or Daddy pick up Niana (who does not want to leave). She throws a bit of a tantrum, then calms down and enjoys the ride in the wagon up the hill and past the ever-so-fun playground without even a second glance. Her first day at a park was just perfect!
Thanks for reading my fun little adventure with Nanah! We had a lot of fun, and now since the weather is cooler we will take some pics outside, so you don't have to keep seeing the inside of our house!
