Wednesday
May182005
CAMP MOMMY - Test Run #1
Wednesday, May 18, 2005 at 10:30PM A Perfect Afternoon
As I was researching online, getting ready for Camp Mommy!, which officially kicks off Monday, May 23, 2005--
I discovered "Wind Down Wednesdays" at Centennial Park, downtown Atlanta. Centennial Park is a large multi-purpose greenspace in the heart of our urban environment. It was built for the Summer Olympics, which Atlanta hosted in 1996. The world heard a lot about Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park on the news after a bomb went off during a busy evening on July 27, 1996, killing one woman, Alice Hawthorne, 44, and injuring more than 100 others. (For more on the story, a remembrance, and a wonderful tribute to Alice Hawthorne, visit Got My Mind Right!!! Blog.)
One of the many wonderful things at the park is the fountains--a large area of waterspouts in the ground, in the shape of the five intertwined Olympic Rings, where kids can play and cool down on a hot day (plenty of those in Atlanta!). Oh, and it's FREE!
"Wind Down Wednesdays" is a program of live music in the park each Wednesday, from 5:30 - 8:00 p.m. Also FREE (love that!).
It was Zach's (oldest, age 10) idea to go down to the park today after school, so we did, arriving at the park about 4:30 p.m. (Centennial Park is about 20 minutes from home, more with traffic.)
It turned out to be a truly perfect afternoon, although not completely FREE, since we did have to pay $7 for parking across the street. We brought snacks and drinks along in a small cooler.
The kids played in the fountains for two hours, and then enjoyed a water "show," with the fountains timed to music--with fake smoke and everything, so that was exciting, even though they had to get out of the fountains while the show was going on. Then it was back to playing in the water with what apparently will be Summer's Hottest Toy--more about that in the next blog!
Daddy met us downtown (about 10 blocks from his office--he had to pay parking, too), and brought dinner from Moe's Tex Mex. We stayed for another two hours, and then had to finally drag the kids away as the sun went down at 8:30 p.m., although Zach was disappointed because there was another "show" scheduled at 9:00 p.m. and he wanted to see the lights. We'll have to stay next time, since it's still technically a school night, even though they are pretty much done for the year. Everybody is sleeping well tonight!
It was the perfect Camp Mommy preview, or test run. The 60 days ahead can't all be so idyllic, but it was a reassuring start.
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