Old School

 One of the many great parts of being a parent is experiencing the new. . .or in this case, the old, with your child. A couple of weeks ago, my husband crawled into the attic of my parent's garage and pulled down some of the Little Tikes toys my brother and I played with when we were kids. It was so much fun seeing Mr. D and my brother with his son play with these toys.

Life is good!

Rate the Park App

I figured out how I can make my millions. . .create an App that rates parks.  

Parks would be rated on the following criteria:

1. Playground Equipment. The park we visited was for older kids.  It is a great park, but not suitable for youngsters. We did find a wonderful turtle that D could climb on and investigate!

 

 2. Canteen. Our local park has the perfect canteen filled with ice cream treats and snacks.  

3. Safety: We want to have fun--but we don't want any scary injuries either! This park had that soft, fake grass that is perfect for running (and falling).  Since the playground was right on the river, they also had safety fences in place to make it hard for little ones to escape! One big concern I noticed, though, was that there was a hill for little ones to climb up but there was a pretty big drop-off on the other side. I was a bit surprised by this, to be honest.

 4. Overall beauty: This park was right on a river.  It is the perfect place to relax, play tag, and eat a picnic lunch. They also host free concerts throughout the summer!

I'd also want to factor in the following:

5. Appropriate ages for use of the park

6. Ease of parking

7. Extra features (pool, splash pad, hiking/biking trails, etc.)

Isn't this a great idea? Here is the problem. . .I have no clue how one would go about doing this! 

Happy Summer!

Ambassador Drew

Most of us have heard of the March of Dimes.  I know that I knew of this organization for years but I never understood how vital a role they play in the lives of all babies.

The March of Dimes was created decades ago, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, with the original purpose of fighting polio.  When polio was eradicated from the US, the mission changed to support babies born prematurely and/or with birth defects.

Because of individual and corporate sponsors, the March of Dimes has raised millions of dollars to support research to help ALL babies have a successful start at life--moms know more about healthy lifestyles that can help them during pregnancy, NICU doctors have more resources on their hands, and all babies have a better chance of not only surviving, but thriving.

We were honored to serve as the March of Dimes ambassador family this year in our community!  

Saturday was the big day where we were able to meet with other individuals who share our common goal.  It could not have been a more perfect day for the event!  Our family was overwhelmed with the love and generosity of complete strangers.  

The event was so family friendly.  When we first arrived, there was a continental breakfast available for all participants.  Everybody was encouraged to get a lei which represented why you were walking (purple = prematurity, green = healthy birth, white = loss of an infant, yellow = birth defect). As a group, we then participated in a 2.5 mile walk through a gorgeous section of town.  We arrived back just in time to try out the swings at the park and say goodbye to our new friends.

Every one of us has a cause that is near and dear to us.  I would encourage you to look into the March of Dimes to see if this organization might be one that you would consider supporting now or in the future.  If you have any questions, feel free to check out their site at www.marchfordimes.org or let me know and I can try to help too.

Happy Walking!