Sorry we haven't posted for so long. We have been very busy as new landlords, and I have been working many extra days covering a colleagues vacation time.
After working a long stretch of days, it has been very nice to just relax and spend time with my family over the last two days. Today we went to a newly renovated mall in Irondequoit (near Rochester) where they have built a new indoor playground. I have always thought that Rochester needs indoor playgrounds because for 6 months we have subzero weather with blowing snow, so young kids have little opportunity to play and run. The indoor playground was wonderful. It was an area about 200' x 50', all enclosed by a wall with a soft seated bench running around the inside perimeter. The equipment was all made out of strange rubbery plastic, and the floor was a carpet with a thick rubber pad underneath, decorated with fun patterns.
Arianna ran, jumped, hopped, climbed, crawled, danced, and laughed. She had a great time running around with the other kids and acting wild in a safe environment.
After playing in the playground we went shopping at discount bookstore in the new mall where we could buy new children's books for $1 (I won't tell you how much we spent. Suffice it to say that my arms still ache from carrying all the books back to the car).
Back in the summer, Rebecca and I had decided to have a family fun day every week. During the winter, over the busy holidays, it has been easy to forget our family fun. It was very nice to have another family fun, just relaxing together with simple activities.