Fun-filled weekend!

What a fun weekend we've had!  It all started with Quinn's first sleepover.  We invited his best friend, Madin, over to spend the night.  It all began with dinner on the deck, followed by ice cream and then marshmallow roasting over the fire pit.  The boys had a campout in a tent in Q's room.  They were up until the wee hours whispering in the tent, but finally managed to go to sleep.  

The next morning we hopped on the trolley and headed downtown to a new park that was recently completed on the site of an old parking lot around the county administration building.  It's a super nice park, with great slides, cool climbing structures and a fountain for splash play.  We also ran into the boys' buddies Kinley and Bella there.  They had a ton of fun!

After the park we wandered up to the Little Italy farmers market to procure some lunch.  Madin opted for tomatoes and sausage and spent the next hour gnawing on this massive hunk of salami-ish sausage. It was pretty amusing to witness!

After Madin went back home we loaded ourselves back into the car and headed north to Fallbrook and the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve for a party hosted by the USGS seasonal field crew.  Both Q and A passed out in the car on the way up (this is probably the first time in over a year that Q has fallen asleep in the car!)

SMER is a beautiful piece of property and filled with wildlife.  This specked rattlesnake is one of many that frequently visits the house.  They also have regular mountain lion sightings.  

The biggest draw of the afternoon was the swimming hole in the Santa Margarita River.  It's a great spot with water deep enough for swimming and jumping off of the rocks.  Q was very brave and jumped right in!

Once the swimming was done we wandered back up to the house where Q entertained himself with sidewalk chalk.  Here he recreated the swimming hole experience complete with rock, water and lots of happy people all over the place.  :)