Salem Willows

Salem Willows is a REALLY old amusement park pretty close to us. I do a lot of photo sessions there because it's a really beautiful place with amazing ocean views and the shade of trees. At this point there is one building that has a few old fashioned rides in it. You have to buy tickets to ride so it could get expensive if you don't limit it.

A couple of months ago the kids and I were in a small grocery store that we never go to. It's famous for their meats and it was on the way home from where ever we happened to be that day so I decided to stop in. While in there we saw a little girl the same age as M&J in a cart with her mother. We ended up seeing them again in an aisle and we happened to park our carts next to each other. Next thing I know Jackson is telling his life story to the little girl and she's giving it right back. They were seriously talking like adults that hadn't seen each other in years. Her mom and I were cracking up so she and I ended up talking for a long time too. The kids were just so cute together that we agreed that we had to get them together to play. I didn't have any business cards on me and no pen or paper. She managed to scrounge up a scrap of paper and a pen to give me her name and number. I thought about calling her every day after that but never got around to it. I'd bring the number to the car with me and say I'd call while we were driving where ever we were going that day. After a while I lost track of the piece of paper and I was crushed. I kept looking and looking with no luck. Then one day I reached into a pocket in my bag and there it was! I immediately stored the number in my cell phone so I didn't have to go through that again.

Anyway I ended up calling her and we made plans to get together. She suggested the Willows and since i hadn't taken the kids there yet and had been meaning to I thought it was perfect.

They were already there when we pulled in so when I got Maddie out of her seat and told her to go to the sidewalk where they were waiting for us, Sabine (the little girls name) ran up to Maddie and hugged her. This girl is SO friendly.

The kids had a ball together.

We spent a lot of time in an arcade which was great because they're too young to know that you need money to make the games go. They're just happy watching the preview movies. My new friend and I were able to learn all about each other. We all had a fabulous time and we'll definitely be seeing more of them.

Sabine and her mom left around 3 so Sabine could go home and take a nap so the kids and I stayed and went to the little beach that is there. Jackson had some major meltdown over something and kept screaming that he wanted to go home the entire time we were walking to the beach. The minute he saw rocks to throw in the water he was all better. We stayed there until 5:30. We all swam in the ocean because it was SO hot that day. I just couldn't wait to jump in.

This a funny face that Maddie makes when she is saying something unhappy, like, "I don't like that."

Just a random picture...