Easter egg hunt, Pearl Street Mall

The Luna Moms meetup group really is fantastic.  If you haven't joined yet, you should!  They hosted an Easter egg hunt playdate today.  Spence had a great time, and claimed 9 eggs for his mommy.  He played hard and was very ready for his nap when we got home.

We were buying a basketball hoop from one of the moms on one of the local Yahoo mom groups.  We have been seeking an outdoor toddler basketball hoop for quite some time, so this was very exciting.  We drove to Boulder for the pick up, and afterwards, Spencer got to play for awhile at the North Boulder Park.  We have driven by this park before, but hadn't stopped, and I was glad we did.  Plenty of friendly parents and kids, a great slide setup for the little ones, and a nice climbing area and curly slide for the bigger kids.  Spencer sampled the smaller play structure before heading for the curly slide.  Since Rope World, he has a lot more confidence that he can handle big metal ladders, and today was no exception.  He scrambled up the curved and straight ladders like a little monkey, took turns nicely, loved the bouncy horses, etc.  I seem to have figured out how to alert him that we are leaving soon without getting him upset, as he trotted off to the car willingly, even though I know he wanted to keep playing.

My husband was out of town, so there was no rush to get home, and I realized that Spencer hasn't spent much time on the Pearl Street Mall.  I found a parking spot and got out the stroller.  He loved the fiddler.  He loved the various stores, especially the one that is full of kites and wind-up toys; he saw his first blacklight room there, and was very excited about that.  Next time, I will plan to put him in white clothing so that he can really enjoy it.  We had a great dinner at Lindsay's Boulder Deli.  Spence liked the tomato soup and helped me eat a TBA.  They have high chairs and are reasonably kid-friendly. Plus, they have cool hand chairs.  (They also have great coupons on their website - next time, I will have to take advantage of that.)

After dinner, we strolled over to Ben and Jerry's.  I know that Haagen-Daas makes fantastic ice cream, but the blackberry frozen yogurt at Ben and Jerry's is my all-time favorite.  (The Haagen-Daas pineapple coconut is pretty amazing too.)  Spence worked on mastering the fine art of eating a kid cone before we went to the climbing rocks to play. 

We drove home for bath and bedtime as the trees turned black against the sunset.  Such a lovely day.