I seem to keep falling further and further behind with my blog. I haven't finished with the Philadelphia posts, have still to share the events of this past Saturday, and today we were back at the park, so more pics I wanted to share. Hm, I think I'll start with Saturday.
I took the kids to the 'Amazing Rubber Ducky Race', at a new community called Trussville Springs. For a donation to the Cahaba River Society you got to float a rubber duck down a stretch of the river, and compete for prizes. Unfortunately by the time we got there the race was over, but there were plenty of other things for the kids. Mehreen, Aaliya and Maarya joined in the fun with us. It was quite enlightening to see how different Bilal and Aaliya are, despite being only 2 months apart in age. Aaliya was all for getting her face painted, not just on one cheek, but both.
Bilal wanted nothing to do with it:

Aaliya loved to color and make a wooden cutout necklace to wear around her neck:

It took a lot of coaxing to persuade Bilal to make one too. When his ducky was colored in (with Safa's help) he was really proud of it, but there was no way he would tie it around his neck with a string, even after big brother did.

Then we took a short walk down the river, and met a nice friendly, oversized ducky. First of all Bilal was scared, until I explained to him it was a person wearing a ducky costume. Of course it helped that friendly little Aaliya ran up and gave the ducky a hug without any hesitation. Then he joined in for a quick hug.

The kids got balloon animals; Aaliya a pink ladybug to wear around her wrist, and Bilal a puppy. We tried to get him to wear the turtle the ballooney guy was making for him, but again, he didn't want to wear it. He did carry his puppy around everywhere, though.

There was also a moonwalk for the kids. Aaliya went in and around the maze several times.

And, true to his nature, Bilal didn't. He did enjoy riding the little train with everyone, though.

Has anyone ever heard of a
trikke? Apparently they're all the rage these days. You propel them with your body weight. Hamza and Mehreen got to try them out while we were there. Of course, Hamza wants to sell his bicycle now so that he can buy one. Somehow I don't see us getting $350+ for selling an old 20 inch bicycle! So his desire will have to wait.

I am really starting to wonder if Bilal doesn't have some bizarre sensory issues. He seems to be so averse to trying anything outside of his comfort zone. And we are still struggling at bath time with pouring water over his head, he just freaks out (as if we've not beeen doing that since he was born). Of course if I don't catch him in the act and change him immediately, he could probably stay in a poopy diaper for ever. What is it with that child??!!
Cute little Maarya, all bundled upAnyway, it was so cool that all these activities were offered free of charge, as part of the grand opening of Trussville Springs, and sponsored by several local businesses. There were also free hot dogs, chips, cookies and drinks. Who ever thought our Trussville community could be such a happening place?
More about Philadephia soon.