nanny-nanny-boo-boo

We took Alex to the park last Sunday, mostly because we wanted an excuse to ride in our new van. So badly, in fact, that we were willing to brave the oppressive heat on what has been deemed "the hottest day of the year". And that's how sweet our van is. We were willing to roast our buns and bear the 107-degrees-in-the-shade temperature for a short jaunt in our sweet ride.

And yes, it is sweet. I'm actually starting to care a little less about the fact that it is, indeed, a mini-van because it is such a pimp mini-van. Have I mentioned the independent front and rear sound systems? Wireless headphones? The stow-and-go consoles? Oh, and it gets good gas mileage, too. What's that you say? Your "much cooler" SUV gets how many mpg? Yeah, that's what I thought. BOOYAKASHA.

Our trip to the park was Alex's first ride in the van, and while Timothy was getting his carseat out of the Altima, we let him check things out and waited for the Alex Evans Seal of Approval.

Alex gave it two thumbs up, although I think he would've preferred the leather captain's chair to his piece-o-junk Walmart carseat. Nonetheless, he was all about the rear AC and the fact that the windows are at eye level.

We made it to the park and had to pry ourselves from the cool comfort of our vehicle. We had packed a great picnic lunch, which we threw into the wagon with Alex, and headed to a bench to eat in the shade.

Most of the slides were ablaze from direct exposure to the midday sun. But the spiral one was in the shade, so we tried it and soon discovered that Alex prefers the challenge of climbing up the slide as opposed to sliding down it.

This particular park didn't have any swings, so we spent the rest of the time helping Alex explore the equipment.

We didn't last very long, due to the heat and an approaching naptime, but at least we got our van fix.