our grand adventure

I have been wanting to take the kids on the bus. Don't ask me why. Maybe because I hate driving and I like taking the bus. I'm not kidding. I often wish we lived in a place that getting around on public transportation was easy AND convenient. I'd give my car the boot if the bus around my house ran past 6pm and I could get wherever I wanted whenever I wanted. But, not the case.

So we drive EVERYWHERE, all the time! I hate it. I never even owned a car before I moved back home when I was 31 years old, that's when I bought my first car. This town just doesn't really work for the carless, unfortunately. And, truth be told this has been an issue for me that I could go on and on about.

Well, I have been craving taking the bus. I've been wondering how hard it would be with 2 kids in tow and if it would be possible to be out and about all day without my kids going bonkers.

So, on Wednesday we did an experiment. We took the bus into the "city" and putzed around ALL DAY LONG. It was a grand adventure indeed!

Heading out. I packed up the stroller with food, a picnic blanket, swimming clothes, towels, water, baby carrier, diapers and changes of clothes.


Waiting for the bus, which is about a mile from our house.


Here it comes! (Enrique was FLIPPING out!)


A cute shot of the kids while we were waiting.


They freaking LOVED riding on the bus! It was soooo not hard, they were really good and had so much fun!


Once we got downtown, we went to the YMCA. I did a yoga class and the kids played in the playroom. Well, Enrique played.. Anabel fussed the whole time! She hates that place. But they are wonderful with her, I'm hoping she will get used to it one of these days.

After yoga, we went across the street for a picnic. This is the park where I hung out alot in high school doing things I hope my children never do! So fun to watch all the kids hanging out - not alot has changed in 20 years.


Then we went and splashed in the fountain, which is one of the coolest things in Colorado Springs if you ask me.


Uncle Wilber ROCKS!


The kids LOVED it!


After the fountain we headed over to the library, where it was nice and cool inside. We hung out there for awhile playing with the bunny and reading stories.

Anabel was seriously needing a nap by this time, so we wandered around downtown for a bit trying to get her to fall asleep.

Sleep was not happening and it was HOT outside.


That's when my NEED for ice cream kicked in, leading us to spend that $8 that is not in the No Spend Month budget!

After ice cream, I put Anabel on my back and we walked around some more.. she finally fell asleep, yay!

We headed down to the Farmer's Market. There was not alot we could afford on our small budget this month, so we just window shopped. It was fun to look around. Why is the farmer's market so much more expensive than the grocery store? Such a bummer when funds are limited.

Anyway, the heat got to us again, so we headed to another fountain! So happy these are around.. I think we would have died - seriously.


Isn't this fountain awesome?! We have always gone to this park in the cooler months, so this was the first time I have ever even noticed the fountain.


Splashing makes kids extremely happy!


After splashing we had to get some nature exploring in.


Then we met up with some friends around 6pm, leading to more splashing in the fountain.


They have live music on Wednesday nights, so we met up with friends and Don came down to meet us for a picnic dinner.


A nice ending to the day, hanging out with Dad, dancing to some fun music.


I LOVE this picture!


Don drove our tired crew home, after we stopped off at the garden to water. It was a LONG day! But fun. Took me most of yesterday to recover.

My conclusion to this experiment is that we should be taking the bus to places more often, I think at least once per week. Though spending 12 hours out and about is a little too much. I think we may be able to do a little grocery shopping this way, go to the library, etc. To make our getting around a little easier, I'd love a better stroller, the one we have is hard to maneuver, but we work with what we have, right?

I truly believe being out walking around helps build our connection to the community. I wish more of us did it. And I am for sure going to make sure we do it every now and again. It felt good to just "be" without rushing around.