Park outings are such huge stress busters....

The 12000 Intel Layoffs announcement has suddenly brought on SO MUCH STRESS at work. Every single team I work with is affected. Many small sites we work with are shutting down, affecting all our colleagues working there. We don't know yet what will happen to our team (we will find out next week), but there is nothing we can do except wait for the news.

It's been a crazy difficult week, to say the least.

However, the California spring warm weather has done it's best to keep things cheerful. This is quite possibly my favorite time of the year. Our garden has so many roses, camellias, orange and peach blossoms, other springs flowers blooming. We also have blueberries starting to grow. Thanks to the abundant rainfall this year, the lawn is lush green. The hills around us are lush green. And the parks are so inviting.

Our kids are young, and thanks to both of us working full time, go to all day private schools. We have made a choice to keep them out of ALL structured activities lately. Other than school, they have nothing planned going on. This has helped keep our evenings and weekends completely open. I have loved every single minute of this open time. We make it to the park almost every single evening, and most weekends. It is pure joy to watch them race down the slide, or make sand castles in the sand pit, or chant "higher higher" on the swings, or watch them make slow but steady progress on the monkey bars. It is also absolute delight to watch them make new friends - the son doing that more easily than the daughter, but both trying, nevertheless. After every park outing, we all come home relaxed, and rejuvenated.

Yesterday was one such lovely day, and our visit to a small park closest to our house was one to cherish. The kids made a friend, Sonia, who hit off really well with them. I played tag with them, and fed them evening snacks. The husband climbed slides and raced down with them. They played in the sandpit, climbed the structures, yelled and squeaked in delight, and we came back as the sun began to set, leaving us with a breathtaking sky in the background.

What's not to love?

Here are some more pictures of our park fun....

Day 3 - Playground

Took time off from work yesterday and today, as I felt like spending time with the kids. The weather has been amazing - unusually warm and sunny, and very spring like. We need the rain but it's not coming, so might as well enjoy the sunshine.

Took the kids to the park on both days. They had a blast. I tired them out so well that they napped for 3+ hours on both days - BLISS!

Swings - unlimited fun.....

Big kid swings - dont-want-to-get-down-ever kind of fun! Even the little one was hooked. This mumma is still scared when the daughter goes higher and higher in the big kid swing.

Chasing each other and pausing to take a break.....

My son (and all boys) = 90% mischief, 10% dirt.

And who said girls don't like dirt :)? Mine sure does. She was making "french fries" for me...which were served piping hot with ketchup for a snack - they were yummy!

Partners in fun and crime, and DIRT :)

Slides - one of a parent's best jobs is waiting at the end of a slide :) :) :) :)!

Playgrounds are SO much fun! My time off was worth every minute of it.

And talking about playground, I just realized that writing here on this blog is my playground. I have SO much fun doing it, I look forward to it every single day!

What's your playground?

PS:  This is a popular park in the center of the city....close to many neighborhoods. It is typically frequented by many Indian families, but I did not see a single Indian or even Asian family on both these days. It was very surprising. Either they were all working or traveling - I hope they were not stuck indoors in this gorgeous weather.

{this moment} At the park

"A Friday ritual. A single photo - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember" - SouleMama

There's something special about taking an unplanned day off :).....I did that on Tuesday {the daughter had to be kept home due to illness}. It turned out to be a 5-day break for me from work, since I had Friday and Monday off as well :). She was bored being home and was feeling good enough to be outdoors for a couple of hours, so we headed to the library where she LOVED playing with the wooden peg puzzles, and then we went to the park next to the library where she ran around and explored all the structures. We socialized with other visitors - the daughter wins hearts by giving away flying kisses and saying "love you" on demand :). We ended our outing with fun times on the swing just when the sun was starting to set :).