fountains o'fun

i hate the heat.

and so i was pretty miserable last week when the mercury started rising 'round these parts.  i mean, seriously - it was just barely april, and we were already facing this:

blech.  mis-er-able.

the bean had done her time at school that morning, so when i picked her up i thought i'd see if she was in the mood to go and do something super fun.  and, well, duh.  we headed home, packed up a lunch, got her changed, grabbed a towel and some sunscreen, and headed here:

this particular park offers something none of the others in the immediate area do - free flowin' fountains just begging to be splashed around in.  the bean was really excited to put on a bathing suit, go to the "water park," and have a picnic.

as soon as she was slathered down with 70 SPF sunscreen, i let her loose.  she decided to scoot through the big sprinkler right away.

i found a nice spot in the shade on the low wall that surrounded the various fountains and sprinklers and started setting out our lunch.  she went back and forth between taking bites and making sure she got as soaked as possible.

she had a blast.  it was really fun watching her go at it, and we stayed for at least an hour and a half before i finally saw her rubbing her eyes and coming back to snuggle in the towel.  she sat with me and watched the other kids run amok, and then it was time to go home.

i managed to keep her from seeing the ice cream truck that was oh-so-conveniently stationed in the parking lot as i got her changed into some dry clothes in the car.  she said "that was so much fun, mommy!" and before i knew it, i glanced in the rear view mirror and saw this:

she knocked the eff out for a solid two and a half hours.  along with swimming lessons this summer, we may very well find ourselves here on quite a regular basis.

i just hope that doesn't come too quickly.  i'm really loving this major cool-down and impending rain in the forecast.  stay away, heat.  i'm not ready for you yet.