Summer in the Park

The town in which Marc grew up is home to an amazing public park. The park itself was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed New York's Central Park and who this nerd knows from the book Devil in a White City. (Shout out to Detroit - he also designed Belle Isle Park!) My point being, this cat has designed some really cool public spaces, and we are fortunate to have one nearby that hosts a ton of free events.




Marc's winning balloon chain.

 

The first event that we attended this summer was the annual plant sale. I was able to pick up some locally grown herbs for my little patio herb garden, and Jack was able to plant his first garden! There was a really cute set-up in the bandstand for the kiddos, where they got to choose from a bunch of little plants, rocks and clay critters to create their own little garden.

On a Sunday in June, the park held a children's concert. The band was pretty impressive, considering the average age of its members must have been at least 72. The event itself was totally adorable. Kids of all ages brought their teddy bears or other favorite stuffed animal to the park, and the band played a bunch of kid-friendly songs. They brought out a person dressed as Kung-Fu Panda during "Kung-Fu Fighting", and Jack talked about the "big panda" for weeks.




Jack brought More Bear (in his lap) and Bear (in foreground) to the concert :)



Jack made a new friend at the concert, and offered to share More Bear with him.

My favorite summer event in the park is the Summer Pops Concert. Every year I am amazed by the quality of the performance, and by the amount of people who attend. There is a contest each year where the family with the longest balloon chain wins a prize: 2 tickets to a Chorus of Westerly performance. Obviously, Marc has wanted to participate (and win) this contest since he was a kid, so now that he has his own family, he did just that with the help of some friends and some donations from kind strangers. The boys loved seeing our balloon chain go up and up and up into the sky!




Enjoying time with friends and family at the Summer Pops.





Cousinly love!

I don't know of any more organized events at the park this summer, but you'd better believe we'll be there if they exist! And if not, we'll still be at the park visiting the ducks in the pond or just enjoying a stroll through the lovely grounds. When did my life become so stinking pastoral? I don't know, but it's working for me!