parks, great people and the pool

On Wednesday, we met some new friends, Stacy (the mama), Ishmael and baby Ibrahim at Carkeek Park in Seattle. It is an awesome park because you drive a few minutes down a windy road out of a Seattle neighborhood and you are suddenly in the wilderness, but still in Seattle! The park is full of trails through the woods. Hills. Fields. A great playground. A bridge to the beach over the train tracks. A nice stretch of beach. A park that I think we could spend our whole days at if we brought enough food and if napping wasn't necessary. We both had a wonderful time hanging out with our new friends. They are great! I feel so completely fortunate to be meeting such awesome people. People that I feel like are on the same page as me in so many ways. What a treasure find! It was a wonderful day. And the sun shone on us! My face was a bit sunburnt. I forgot to watch out for that. But the sun did feel delicious. Johari seemed to be into eating the sticks and bark of the park. She made some bark soup and spooned it up. She also wanted to eat the bubbles from the bubble stick. When asked if these things are delicious, she would reply with a smile, "yeah!"

Ishmael and Johari on the playground

Johari and Ibrahim chillin' in the grass

The next day, we went the playground at Greenlake. Then, Grandma came and met us for some lunch then we got back to the playground for a bit. Johari really likes the sand. We met a nice mama and baby in the cafe, Erin and Eden. Johari loves to check out the babies. We are lucky that we can find so many around us to fill her appetite for the baby love. Hopefully, we will purposefully run into them in the future.

Serving me pretend cooked apples from behind bars

Last night, Johari got interested in doing her puzzles for the first time while she was playing with her Grandma. She has mingled with the puzzles a little bit in the past but last night she was really putting the pieces in. And she got them out to work on them again this afternoon. Just a spontaneous sort of thing. It goes to show that it is really not necessary to "teach puzzles" or be concerned with her learning how to do puzzles. These things will all come in their own time or not and of her own accord. It sounds kind of funny when I read over those lines. Like a bit ridiculous, nonetheless something that I was thinking about while she was doing them.
Johari has been climbing up into her car seat on her own. I notice little bits of independence pop up every day. It is so awesome to watch.
Last night, we had another late night outing to the bookstore. A nice hang out. There is a train table in the kids section that she has really taken to playing with. A book I have been wanting for her was on the bargain rack!!! At almost a third of its cover price. How lucky!
One night for dessert, ice cream and olives. A bite of one and then the other! Maybe it is actually a delectable treat that we haven't discovered yet. Feel free to try it out, yourself.
Today we went to the indoor pool since it was a rainy day. We had to wait to get in because of all the spring break children. We had a good time. There is something that is a mystery to me though. Whenever I go to a swimming pool, I come away from it ravenous!!!! Like I can really eat something up. And seeing as I was only hanging out in the kiddie section with Johari. We weren't running around or anything, I can't attribute it to exertion. What is it about a swimming pool that can make me feel so hungry afterwards? Does anyone else have that experience?