Photo TR: Connor Giove's "on-growing" adventures.

[pete4winds]

This past Wednesday, Jen and I took Connor to a playground we'd never been to. Jen's a member of the "Somerset Moms' Club," a local support/playdate group for stay-at-home moms and their kids, and Wednesday was a scheduled playdate at this particular park. Because I work nights, I usually weasel my way into some of their events.

 

In any case, nobody else showed up from the Moms' Club, so we made the most of it with Connor anyway. He had his first slide down a playground slide, and he was AWAKE for it!!! This slide was cool! It twisted through the trees down a hill that was maybe 30 feet tall, so the slide itself was about 50 feet long. It was the freakin' Boulder Dash of playground slides!

 

On to the photos, and POV video!!!

 

It just vanishes into the trees.

The view from above.

That's a big staircase. You sure you wanna do this, Connor? Not sure I do. I'm getting too old for stairs that tall.

See? The Boulder Dash of playground slides.

We're riding THAT beastly thing.

Ready to go. No, that little pansy slide isn't the one we're riding...

A little tummy-time before we slide.

Even has a river-front beach. I think we've discovered our new summer spot!

Pierce Beach Park, one of those little local "hidden-away-gem" types of parks.

[Moose]

Wow, that slide has really grown over since i've been there. In High school we used to run there, play on teh slide and then run back for cross country practice.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the carousel at Battleship Cove from Lincoln Park?

 

Hope you and Conor enjoyed the Big Red Slide!

[pete4winds]

^ Yeah, the carousel is PTC# 54 from Lincoln Park. We still drive by Lincoln Park every so often when we feel an overwhelming need to make ourselves sad.

 

And yeah, we had a blast!!! Pierce Beach is my new favorite play spot for him.

[pete4winds]

OK, so it's been awhile. Connor's been pretty busy growing (over 15 pounds and not even four months old yet).

 

A couple weeks ago, Jen and I decided to check out this local dairy farm for some fresh ice cream. The farm is called Simcock Farm...insert fresh cream joke here.

 

The animals are accessible to customers in a kind of impromptu petting-farm way, so we thought it would be fun for Connor to see some animals other than his pets at home. I'll let the photos tell the REAL story.

Insert ACEr gravy and/or buffet joke here. If that was Daytona, then I'm guessing this is Sprint.

Insert ACEr joke here. I think this is Daytona.

Somebody at the farm is an X-rated NASCAR fan.

Ok, dad...I've had quite enough. Let's get our ice cream and get outta here.

Dad...you woke me up for this???

He does love his oats. And the farm does love the money we spend to feed him his oats.

Eeyore bullied us into hanging out with him some more.

These guys were also hiding, but I thought the Biblical name thing was cool.

As promised, the three...

Three of these four cows were visible...the other one was probably doing the smart thing and hiding in the shade.

The new weapon in Six Flags' new anti-coaster-hit-and-run-accident efforts.

OK, so my wife unduly influences me. That doesn't make me a bad guy!

Who can resist a cut-out photo? Obviously not Jen.

I didn't catch this guy's name either.

Not sure, but I'm guessing Butterscotch is the solid tan one.

Butterscotch and Buttons, the resident rabbits.

I didn't catch the goat's name. Come to think of it, I forgot to get her phone number, too.

Eeyore had a thing for shorts. Along with Jen's, he also tried to eat mine. Who am I, Bart freakin' Simpson?

Eeyore, Connor...Connor, Eeyore. Yes, his name really is Eeyore. In true Connor fashion, he was, of course, sleeping...as usual.

Eeyore says: me likey cameras for lunch.

Rock says: Welcome! Enjoy your stay.

Here we are, Simcock Farm. Why do I laugh when I hear that name? This is the ice cream stand.