Uncle Mark and River Front Park

Uncle Mark (J's brother) stopped by for a visit.  J and Mark spent the afternoon golfing and then came to the house for some fun time with C.

 Uncle Mark and C grabbing each others shirts like tough guys

 wrestle time

 J and I celebrated 7 years of marriage.  We went out on a date... first time in a long time... dinner at Outbacks and the movie Hangover 2.   I was complaining about him not being very romantic anymore... so he got me a "bouquet of bananas."  According to him it's more practical and useful than flowers.  In the 11 years we've been together I haven't been able to convince him that roses are romantic.  His argument is that your buying dead flowers, which makes no sense to him.  I have to agree he does have a point.  Once you cut the stem of the flower you are killing it.  And aside from looking pretty and smelling nice for a few days... they really don't serve any purpose.  Despite all that, he does occasionally break down and buy me flowers because I enjoy them.  However for my 7 year anniversary I got the bouquet of bananas... no flowers.  I do give him credit for being creative!

 my adorable son

 J left early Saturday morning for a golf tournament, which left C and I with an open Saturday.  So, we decided to go for River Front Park to play.  When we got downtown we found the park packed and no street parking.  So, we headed for the mall and I asked a lady in the parking garage what event was going on in the park.  She told us it was a graduation ceremony.  We decided to stroll over and check it out.  After crossing the street from the mall to the park we quickly discovered she was wrong.  We walked past the stage, which was surrounded by drag queens.  Then I realized this must be Gay Pride weekend in Spokane.  They had tons of bounce castles and obstacle courses set up for the kids, all free!  C loved that.

 After bouncing and jumping we strolled over to check out the ducks and go down the wagon slide a few times.

 Then it was off to ride Riverfront Park’s 1909 Looff Carrousel. One of America’s most beautiful and well preserved hand-carved wooden carrousels. The Looff Carrousel features 54 horses, 1 giraffe, 1 tiger, and 2 Chinese dragon chairs.  Charles Looff, a master craftsman, created the Carrousel as a wedding gift for his daughter Emma.  On July 18, 1909, Riverfront Park’s cherished Looff Carrousel began operation in Natatorium Park, an amusement park on the bank of the Spokane River on the west side of Spokane.  After entertaining many generations of children and families, “The Nat” closed its doors for good in 1967 and the Carrousel was put in storage.  In the early 1970s a plan was discussed to bring the Carrousel out of storage to display it during Expo 74.  But, concerned that the crowds could damage the hand-carved Carrousel, it remained in storage for one more year and made its debut in Riverfront Park in 1975 in a building that had been constructed for Expo.  Fortunately for the City’s residents and visitors alike, the Carrousel has remained in Spokane all these years and to date all, of the Carrousel’s original figures are still making their rounds, and they look as good (or maybe even better) today as they did in 1909.

C of course chose to ride the 1 giraffe!

 After the carrousel we were making our way to the playground, when we came across these pony's.  C got to ride a pony for the first time.  His pony was called Snickers and he loved it.

 Then it was off to the playground

 J spent his morning golfing and afternoon napping.  Rough day!

 He won the award for the longest drive in his golf tournament!  I guess the new golf clubs we bought him last year for his birthday are paying off.

 Our sweet neighbor, Vicki made me this basket of flowers and some of her yummy apple crisp.  Her husband, Jon had a kidney transplant a few years ago and he's having trouble with his eyes.  Currently he's blind.  Since Vicki works evenings, I've been going over every evening to warm up his dinner and help test his blood sugar (he's diabetic).  Jon and Vicki are the sweetest people!  We absolutely love having them for neighbors.

Sunday was my 36th birthday.  I spent the day studying for my math final.  Booo!  But I got 100% on the final and passed the class with a 101% (4.0) so I guess it paid off to study.  And I'm not taking any classes this summer.. so now I'm free to have fun with C!