Beaches? Um... Diana... you do realize that you live in Wyoming, right?
Why yes, yes I do. :)
The ward we moved into has been great. I met several younger sisters at a Relief Society activity which lead to Facebook friending, which lead to joining the Facebook Play Group, and next thing you know, bam. Beaches!
The first play group I attended was at Alcova Children's Beach. Alcova is one of the big reservoirs about 40 minutes outside of Casper. (It's the same one we went to when we came out to visit Ryan in May). They have an area called Sandy Beach which is just like it sounds, a super sandy beach, but we opted for the Children's beach because it has shade, a play ground, and nice shallow waters. It was awesome!
The area actually reminds me of Southern Utah. Lots of red rock and sand. Even though I am not from that area, I have lots of relatives who are, and that made me feel at home.
Pierscen has never encountered sand before and he was quite enthralled with it. He rolled and wriggled his way to the edge of the towels so he could sift through it. Thankfully he didn't try to eat any of it.
I think he could be a beach baby model. What do you think?
I did take him down to the water a couple of times, but he wasn't a huge fan. He didn't cry, but the water was cold and he isn't quite old enough that he is willing to brave the temperature for the fun. He did better the second time though. I think the first attempt was a shock to the system. The second time wasn't nearly so bad. He did like the mud though. I would scoop up a handful and hold it in front of him. He would squish it out of my hand and slosh it around in his own.
It was a fun little day trip. Obviously it would be a bit more fun if he was older and could actually play in the water, but he loved the sand and it was great to get to know some of the girls. We stayed out there for a few hours. We ate lunch, enjoyed the sunshine (and shade) and then headed home for a nap.
A couple weeks later we went to Edness Kimball Wilkins State Park. They have a nice swimming pond area too. I would have loved to explore the area. It looked like they had some great picnic areas and walking trails.
The unfortunate thing about this location is there is no shade. It was SO hot! If we were to go again, I would definitely bring an umbrella.
Lauriel joined us for this outing. We didn't stay terribly long, however, because it was hot and Pierscen was exhausted. I did convince him to take a short nap in my arms. When he woke up he seemed like it was ready to play again, but it didn't last long. He wanted a longer nap in his nice soft bed out of the scalding hot sun. I don't blame him.
It's been fun to join the play group. I think they are healthy for the kids and for the adults. However, during these little trips I still couldn't bring myself to mention that we were moving out of the ward. I know it's elementary thinking, but I felt like if I told them, then they wouldn't want to hang out any more. I know, it's silly. But at the same time, there is some truth to it. It's not that they don't want to be friends, but it's strange how often ward boundaries determine friendships. Or, we allow them to anyway. Someone may just move a street away, but if it's in a different ward, your paths never really cross and that's that. So I decided to just bide my time. No reason to put a damper on the party. :)
One thing I have loved about the play groups is discovering some of the amazing places Casper and the surrounding areas have to offer. They had an outing to Natural Bridge, which is about 40 minutes outside of Casper in the opposite direction of Alcova, but I didn't go to that one. However, it did make it on my list of places to visit.
Casper really is a great area. I know I will struggle with the winters... a lot... but at least there is a lot of like about this place. I can survive six months locked inside wrapped in a parka, right?
No comments:
Post a Comment