writing – Page 58 – Lemon Drop Pie

This weekend was the biggest blogging conference, BlogHer ’14, in San Jose, California. Unlike last year, I wasn’t able to go. Instead, I was at the southern end of the state meeting a blogger friend for the very first time! Gretchen from Second Blooming and I met in a little coffee shop kitty-corner from the Hollywood Tower. Not only did Gretchen meet me, but she met the rest of my family as well, and she brought Jude with her to meet Lily and Emmy.

When I saw Gretchen and Jude walk into the coffee shop, it felt like I already knew them. As Ed told me later, “It was like you were two old college friends getting together after not seeing each other for a while.” It completely makes sense; when you read someone’s blog for as many years as Gretchen and I have read each others, you know a lot about them. And let me tell you: Gretchen’s son Jude is just as adorable in real life as he is on Gretchen’s blog! (I probably shouldn’t embarrass him like that, but it’s true!)

Jude Lily and Emmy — See what I mean? Adorable!

As you have probably guessed by now, I’m on vacation. Gretchen and I have decided that in honor of our meeting each other for the first time, we are going to put The Spin Cycle on hold for two weeks. Yes, it’s kind of strange that after two bloggers meet we are now putting off blogging. But then, blogging is a strange business. It’s a place where you become friends with someone you’ve never even met. I’m just thrilled that Gretchen and I were able to meet in person.

I’ll still post a blog post here and there if I have wi-fi access or if I’m not too tired from all the hiking Ed is about to make me do. Will we have a relaxing vacation? Time will tell. And Gretchen will be writing about Camp Mama, so be sure to click over and go say hi! The Spin Cycle will resume its regular schedule in a couple of weeks. 🙂

We never call a park by its real name. We use the equipment on the playground for identification. For example, we go to the “boat park,” the “flying saucer park,” or the “roller slide park.” The playground down the street from us is “our park” and the playground at the school is “the red park” because all of the monkey bars, slides and swings are the color red.

When I became a stay-at-home mom with Lily, I couldn’t wait to take her to the park. I needed activities to fill my days, besides the normal routines of changing diapers and endless laundry. I started reading to Lily when she was only three months old, and as soon as the weather started to warm up, I took my November baby to the park. I placed Lily into the baby swing and gently pushed her back and forth. Lily would look up at the sky, point, and say “Appy!” which of course meant “airplane.”

Traveling with kids takes on a whole different perspective. We could be at the most interesting tourist spot ever, but if the kids spot a playground, they’re begging us to go play!

playground car — Lily and Ed at a playground in Iowa

playground swing — Emmy on a moose swing in Fairbanks, AK

The weather doesn’t matter at all. We go to our park when it’s hot, when it’s cold, and even when it’s snowy. At the playground, my daughters magically get along.

And so far, it hasn’t mattered how old my daughters are. At the ages of six and nine, they still want to go to the park to play! Now they prefer the monkey bars to the swings, however.

Do you ever visit a park in your neighborhood? Join Gretchen and me for the Spin Cycle this week and link up your Parks and Recreation blog post!

Copy and paste the code in the box to add some Spin Cycle bling to your post! (On some blogs, you will need to delete the quote marks and replace them with regular quote marks.)

Category: writing

When Bloggers Meet

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Parks and Recreation {Spin Cycle}

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