In the fourteen or so years that I’ve been away, Bowling Green has been busy improving their downtown area.

I didn’t really know it needed improvement; I’ve always enjoyed the area. I have memories of going to The Capitol for plays and things; dinners at The China, back when Chinese food was more than fast food or buffets; concerts on Fountain Square. The Library was just down the street, the university a little further. When I was older and coming back for visits, there were trips to Spencer’s and anniversary dinners at 440 Main.

Now there’s a bigger theatre, a baseball stadium (there is a minor league team here now), probably various other things that I’m just not aware of yet, and–the most exciting to me–a little park with a splash pad.

Now, there were a few of these things around where we used to live, sure, but none were so close, and let’s face it, stuff is just more fun in a smaller town.

Since one of the local farmer’s markets is just down the street from this park, I hope to make a bi-weekly tradition of going to the library, the farmer’s market, and then the splash pad while the weather still allows for it. Weekly would be nice too, but quite honestly I found our trip this morning exhausting (even though I wasn’t the one making laps through the fountains) so I don’t know if weekly would be a good idea. Every other week, though–I think we could swing that.

We packed a lunch, but Ephraim eschewed it in favor of jumping right into the fountain. He made wide laps through the streams of water, weaving around them, in and out, jumping over, slapping with his hands. I think it was thirty minutes before he finally slowed and came over for a sandwich, half of which he methodically fed to Anselm before dashing off again.

Clive ate first, slowly and thoughtfully. I think he was a little intimidated by the shooting water. He finished his sandwich, tiptoed at the edges of the water for a while, then came back over for an apple. He would venture into the water, then run back to me, back to the water, back to me, like he was checking to make sure he was still alright. He’s the water baby of the family, so I found this sort of surprising. I figure he will grow in confidence the more we go.

And Anselm! Poor Anselm. He wanted so badly to get into the water, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. He danced around the outside of the fountain, laughing uproariously, but absolutely refusing to get any closer than that. He did eventually touch one of the streams of water, but that was as much as he would do. It didn’t dampen his spirits, though, and I don’t think he really even noticed that he was missing out on anything. 

Of course, Elvie Kay didn’t get in the water at all, as her mobility is totally dependent upon Mama, and Mama didn’t get in. We did walk around in the stroller a bit and get a bit of mist on us, but the rest of the time she sat with me and chewed on my finger.

That little bonnet is my part of my first foray into sewing after a long, long, long hiatus. I think the last thing I sewed on my machine was the curtains for the boys’ room when I was pregnant with Clive. Or maybe it was the reading nook for Anselm’s room. I don’t know, either way it’s been a while. But I had to find a way to support by baby bonnet habit, and it boiled down to just making them myself.

I didn’t realize they had WiFi there, which is nice, but since I’ve downgraded to a dumb phone I wasn’t able to make use of it anyway. I did think about bringing something next time, but decided it was actually really nice to just watch the kids run around and play. Sometimes you just have to watch and think.