Oh my

See the picture of the playground to the left? It's a public playground in McLean called Clemyjontri and all I can really say about it is, "Wow." It's a park that is built to be handicapped accessible, but it's just so darn awesome that half of Fairfax County was there at 10 a.m. this morning even though this is virtually no shade at the park and it was nearly 90 degrees and humid, even that early.

The problem with the park though is it's, well, too big. There was so much to see that Mo and I spent most of the time trying to keep an eye on where the kids had run off to so we didn't really get a chance to visit. Course, it was hot and sunny so there really wasn't a good place to sit and visit.

We did go on the carousel in the middle of the park. Andy quite adamantly said he didn't want to go, but I did force him to sit on the seat with me. After initial protests, he did like it, but I am growing tired of being the lady forcing her kid to try the moon bounce, the slide, the pool, the carousel, etc.

This is bringing me to a bit of a dilemma. I want Andy to feel comfortable and not force him into situations that scare him. But at the same time, I find myself wanting to just make him try something before he decides it scares him. I know, he'll get there at his own pace, blah, blah, blah, but I find myself irritated as I watch all his friends just jumping right in with both feet, so to speak. I appreciate his caution; it certainly makes for fewer trips to the emergency rooms at the moment. I just hate to think he's missing out on something his peers are doing just because he doesn't want to give it a try.

On a completely different side note, Andy and I took a walk last night and ran into a neighbor that we regularly see on our walks. He's a nice enough guy, is about my age and has two kids under four, much like we will have eventually (all though not soon enough is this heat!) As we talked, I mentioned that I was 5-6 months pregnant. His answer, "I thought you had put on a lot of weight."

Seriously, I know I've gained weight, I really do, but was that necessary? Asshat.

Jammin to the politicos

One of the perks of living in suburbia is some of the cool stuff big countries like Fairfax have to offer. Case in point is the summer entertainment series that takes place at the park by the lake near our place. Sadly, it's on the other side of the lake from us and thus not within walking distance, but the bands are usually decent, it's infinitely convenient and kid-friendly, and free.

We went last week with some friends and Andy was so happy about the whole thing he danced for about 20 minutes of the 60 minute set with an enormous smile on his face before crashing down to sit for a minute. It was all rather impressive since he hadn't had a nap that day.

The only downsides to this are the concert is held on a strange rock incline so you really need to bring a chair because rocks in the backside are less good that you might imagine (and I imagine you thought rocks on the backside were already not good). The other negative is the local politicians love to stop by and claim credit for it.

Just about every week the organizers have to officially suck up to Sharon Bulova, our rep on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. We also routinely have Tom Davis and/or his wife Jeannemarie Devolites Davis. Of course, they're all running for reelection and the Republican Davises are especially vulnerable so they're coming around and sucking up. It would be more interesting if it was anyone BUT them or if they ever had anything to say except, "Like these concerts? You can thank me personally! Here, have a fan with my name and picture on it."

They also never stay at the concert they claim to care so much about. They glad hand for five minutes, get introduced and leave. I guess this is what local pols do, but I'm ready for something, someone, more interesting.

Tom Davis and Eleanor Holmes Norton Sittin' in a Tree

Tom Davis, our representative from Fairfax, was on the Colbert Report this week. DCist thought he didn't do so great, but as someone who does media training as part of my job, I actually think he did okay. The format on Colbert is tough because he's so tongue in cheek that it's hard to stay on message because you have no idea where Colbert is going. I know Bjorn hates him, but he seemed fine on this. Plus, I like him right now for championing D.C. voting rights. That the 500,000 or so folks in the District of Columbia don't have a Representative or Senator really sucks. Especially because without this representation, Congress as a whole has a chance to really screw with the city and block its attempts to do things that are good for the city, but not necessarily good for the folks who have to commute to Capitol Hill every day.



In other news, Andy went to the doctor today and now has an ear infection in both ears again. He's on augmentin twice a day for 10 days and the bonus is it's likely to upset his stomach and/or cause diarrhea. Yay! The ears don't seem to be bugging him, but Dr. Staats said the ears are so red she doesn't see how they'll clear up on their own. Sigh.

Edited to correct my metaphor. I was an English major. Swear!