Sunday Play Date

When I was a senior at UMBC, I was the teaching assistant for the ENES 101 class, which all freshman engineering majors take. The class consists of lecture three times a week, where the students have one unit from each of the majors -- chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, etc... The students also have a 2-hour 'discussion' section each week, taught by the TA (moi!), where they learn Word, Excel, PowerPoint, AutoCad, and Fortran. I became close with a few of the students in my class. One of them was a guy named Joe.

Since I graduated, Joe and I have stayed in touch. He has two little girls, Emily (4) and Julie (2) so we often exchange stories and pictures of our kids. Finally, after not seeing each other for FIVE years, Joe and I and our families met up for a play date.

We all met at Kinder Farm Park, which is near both of our houses. They had a really nice playground, with about 6 separate jungle gyms, so there were tons of slides and other activities for the kids. You have to pay a small fee to enter the park, but it is definitely worth it because: 1. the park is nice, and 2. it attracts better clientele since you have to pay.

The kids all ran around and played, while Joe and I chatted. Thanks to Michele and Kyle for keeping an eye on them so that we could talk!

Peyton

Some sliding action
Kyle wanted to play too (or was taking a break!)
Pretty Emily

Cute Julie

The park also had a section that was like a farm. There were lots of animals there. The kids enjoyed checking the animals out. The animals were all very vocal that day too, so I think Peyton liked hearing the sounds that the animals really make. There were goats, cows, sheep, roosters, chickens, and a big fat pig.

After we looked at the animals for a while, the kids were spent, so we headed to a picnic table in the shade for some juice and Goldfish. Thanks to Emily and Julie for sharing their fish with Peyton! It was nice to sit for a minute, because it allowed all four of us adults to talk. Michele is very nice! When everyone was refreshed, we went back over to the playground for more fun. It started to rain though, so we all decided to leave.

It was so nice to see Joe. Even though the kids really didn't play together much, I think that they'd be fast friends if they have the chance to play together again.