Play time

It is Pour Ing outside right now. Rain here is so different from Oregon. From what we've witnessed in the four months we've been here, it is usually either dry or downpours. In Oregon, whether it's raining or just drizzling it's pretty constant and it's usually cloudy and gray all day. There'd be showers on and off, but you hardly notice. Here when it rains, you notice. You notice the downpour on the roof and off the gutters. You notice the stream running down your driveway. You notice the lake forming in the ditches at the end of the driveway. And you notice it in your basement.


We went back to that Kids~n~Stuff place in Albion today. Katie's been wanting to take little Donnie on a "field trip" with the kids, so we decided to head out there. Don had today off work and Ryan had his Friday-half-day so we made it a family outing. Nicole, Porter and the little girl Nicole "preschools" a few days a week also met up with us. Savannah loved having someone her own age to pal around with.

Here's us moms with our little men.
(Porter's 7 months, Donnie's 8 & a half months and Sawyer is 10 & a half.)

Months that is; I know he's bigger than them, but let's not get carried away!

And here are the three boys hanging out.
Check out Sawyer's face in the second picture...

...apparently he's got somethin' to say to Donnie about the way he's eyeing that toy in his hand!




While we were there, we all got on the conversation again about my wishful thinking of opening a kid's play place like that in Jackson. Well, not just like that, because I wouldn't want something as big and elaborate as that place. This place is more like a mini version of a children's museum. I just want a simple indoor place for kids to play and Jackson has nothing of the sort. I also want it to be a good "hang out" spot for parents so they actually want to bring their kids there and have it be a good place for mom's groups or playdates or things like that. Pretty much along the lines of Peanut Butter & Ellie's or Toney Baloney's back home in Portland. Toney Baloney's was so great. A cute little coffee shop/cafe in the same building as a whole big play room for the kids. A few tables and lots of comfy couches; some games and toys and puzzles, a little indoor slide/climber, a train table, a play kitchen, and a few good scones and lattes. Isn't that what every mom wants once in a while? That's what I would love to have here in Jackson. An easy laid back coffee shop where the kids can hang out and play and the moms (and/or dads) can hang out and talk and be OUT OF THE HOUSE. I mean seriously, what are we going to do all winter when it's too cold to be outside? The closest indoor kid thing is 20 minutes away and everything else is an hour. I think it would do so well here. Oh, if I had the money to start that up...