Clemyjontri Picnic

Sometimes it's amazing to think about how far we've come in the last year, as we said goodbye to our live-in nanny phase in early April of 2013 and I undertook what was already the most challenging job in the world...solo!  It was terrifying and nearly impossible to get the boys (then just turned 2, 2, and 1) packed up and out of the house by myself those first few months, and honestly, rarely worth the effort and exhaustion for whatever the endeavor might have been back then!  Now, I take them on big outings several times a week, often spur of the moment.  All this came to mind as I made a last minute decision this past Friday to make a picnic and take the boys to Clemyjontri playground, a beautiful and enormous place, but also a little nerve wracking because of it's size.  The last time we visited Clemyjontri was last summer, and I hired a babysitter to come along and help me manage and keep an eye on the boys - an absolute must only 9 months ago (see first picture of the playground below to get an idea of its size)!  This time, since it was a weekday morning with school still in session I thought we'd give it a go and hope for a small crowd and manageable parking.  It turned out to be a great morning, and while there were a few times the boys wandered off a little too far from each other and I had to make mad dashes around playground equipment to find and huddle them back together, their overall behavior was excellent.  They've even mastered our "choo choo hand holding system" where someone agrees to be the engine, coal car, flat car, and caboose and we all hold hands and stay in line while walking to and from a destination.  It's quite cute and I get lots of amazed looks and praising comments by everyone we see!


An aerial image of Clemyjontri...huge!

Follow the leader...

Lunch Time!