One of the coolest things about being a parent

(in my entire 18 months of experience) is the opportunity to see the world from a child's perspective again.

Allow me to demonstrate.

Grandma Louise came for a college-friends-reunion party on the beach. We took her away from that drunken craziness for just a little while one afternoon.

(Okay, fine. They are probably a little more tame than I'm suggesting, but I did hear a little something about margaritas.)

Anyway....we went to John's Pass on Madeira Beach. It's a place that Khan and I like to visit from time to time. Like right after he asked me to marry him, we went to a pizza place there for dinner. :::memories::::

I'm losing my story again. Sorry. Where was I? Oh yeah. John's Pass. It's a little area with shops, restaurants, and a boardwalk.

Lily had sooooo much fun. She just loved it. She loved exploring -- and she loved the birds. She kept pointing to the pigeons saying, "duck, duck, duck."

We've been here a million times, but it was so different to see it with her there. Everything was awesome to her.
Then she took Grandma's hand and showed her around for a bit.


Later, we found a bench and Lily wanted to climb up on it. Then she told me where to sit, and she told Grandma Louise where to sit. (Daddy tried to sit, too, but he crowded her and he had to move.)
Lily won hearts everywhere with her friendly wave hello.
After pizza and the boardwalk, we went to the park. Grandma helped Lily with the swing.
Seriously, do you remember how much fun it is to swing. Because it's awesome.

We also climbed onto the playground equipment. At Hillcrest they called it the "apparatus." Back then, I didn't know what it meant, and now I just think it's weird.
Yup, that's me crawling through the tunnel. Easiest way for me to get to the slide. Please, hold the fat jokes. That's just mean.
Lily had an easier time with the tunnel. I love this sequence of photos. I'm sure they'll be lined up on a scrapbook page sometime very soon.


Lily and Daddy played on the slide.
Muah. Love this little girl.
Just for fun, but totally unrelated to our day at the beach/park, we've been playing dress up the last couple of nights. She's been obssessed with our closet for months, but she just discovered my long-abandoned accessories. Anyway, we had fun with headbands and scarves.

Note her not-so-ladylike-finger.
For some reason, it was the most fun when we slapped the mirror like a drum.

Actually, it was pretty fun.