So Cal has been hit by a Winter heatwave (which means it’s about mid to high 70s during the day here), which is awesome for getting out and doing stuff, but sucks when you’re having to work. To keep Piper entertained over the weekend I decided to let her get some vitamin D, so we headed out to the local park. Which is up a tall ass hill. So, like an idiot, I took our crappy-on-rocky-terrain Maclaren Quest instead of our Baby Jogger Performance with the sweet ass rubber tires up that hill. In flip flops. In 78 degrees. I know, it’s not really warm, right? But it’s in the blazing sun, my skin is allergic to it! I tossed on my Mickey baseball hat from Disneyland, put Piper in a pair of shorts and slathered both of us in sunblock and headed up that tall ass hill.

It took about ten minutes to get up the hill, then I had to walk us over the freeway overpass with incredibly shaky legs (Seriously, pushing an umbrella stroller up a hill with sidewalks that have been torn asunder by insane tree roots is like some whacked out obstacle course) and across to the park.

It was totally worth it, though. Piper was going up and down the slides by herself, (including the loopty loop ones!!), swinging, playing with chalk, running wild like a little girl should.

Excuse the horrible hat, it was a spur of the moment purchase in Santa Barbara a few months earlier (peanut head), and it was the only one we had that still fit. Later that day we bought a new one, which you’ll see later in this post!

She loves this play structure. It has steering wheels, a huge abacus, some musical things and a lot of little seats for tiny tushes to sit on.

She even started to climb up the weird ladder type thing they have down by the big kid slides (the ones that curl and are longer)! How did this happen??

I was really happy we had bought a few pairs of shorts in 2T during the sales before winter hit, because we would have been so unprepared for these hot days that have been hitting us!  And seriously, how cute are those shorts??

Piper sat in the baby swing for awhile going, “Wheeeeee! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” while her swing neighbors were like, “Hey, me, too! WHEEEEEEEEEEE!” It was so cute, just a pair of toddlers (strangers and one toddler whose mother I had met in Whole Foods sans baby) yelling, “WHEEEEEEEE!” People around us were chuckling at these kids, and a few parents came up to me to tell me that her mannerisms and joyful smile was quite uplifting to them, and that you can’t NOT smile and laugh when you’re around her. Since I feel that way pretty much all the time with her, I kind of assumed that was the Mom in me, completely enamored with my daughter, so it was good to know I’m not alone in those thoughts. It was also good to know I’m not some psycho crazy obsessed with how awesome my kid is- and WHY DON’T YOU SEE IT TOO, STRANGERS??

Sorry for the blurriness, it’s almost literally impossible to get a clear photo of a swinging child.

After squatting down to chalk up the sidewalk, we put the hat away and went for one last slide ride.

Paul then came to pick us up for lunch between games. After lunch we headed out with him to watch him coach (one of the upsides to him working on weekends is that we can kind of see him do it, and cheer him on), with Piper and I going through her vintage Sesame Street flashcards (numbers, letters, colors, they are AWESOME!) as she cheered him on. So cute to see her yell “Go Daddy!’ and clap every time a basket was made. Even for the other team. :)

After that we headed to the mall to get her a new hat from Gymboree, and sat down for some dinner there. Kid will eat anything on a stick.

The next day was another one without Paul. He left at about 9am, and returned home at 7:30p, just in time to put Piper to bed. It wasn’t until about 1pm, and Piper had finished her nap when I looked at the weather and saw it was 80 degrees outside! Our place is tile floored, so it stays cool/cold in there ALL THE TIME and I had no idea. Since I wanted her and Woofie to get some fresh air, we walked outside and took a stroll in the sun, wearing her new hat. It’s the cutest thing, when we tell Woofie we’re going outside, Piper grabs his leash and pats her leg saying, “Oh Woo-Man! C’Mon, Wooh!”

After that we brought Woofie back and Piper and I sat down for some chalk coloring outside in the shade.

The new hat, and shorts!

Covered in white chalk dust, Piper kept shouting, “BOO! BOOO!” so I would scream in fright. This kid is hilarious.

Piper got tired of this and requested we go inside and get in bed. Being willing to snuggle with my girl anytime she asks because I know it will only last a little bit longer, I said, “Of course, let’s go.”

Man, this kid is boss.