Carless and Carefree

Our move to Washington was full of changes and adjustments-- both big and small. One of those was selling our faithful, older Malibu and becoming a one-car family. The original plan was that I would drop Chris off at work each morning and hopefully remember to pick him up again in the afternoons. Well, sometimes Ally is still sleeping at 6:45 am; sometimes her mommy is too. We've come to the conclusion that it's better to let sleeping ones continue to sleep, so nowadays Chris usually drives himself to work. If I want/need the car, I put Ally in the stroller and walk the 20 minutes up to Daddy's office and fetch it. (I think I've done that once.) Usually we'll just walk to the local park or visit the BigLots plaza instead. It is so wonderful to be somewhere where 1) there are places to go and 2) having a car is not required for day-to-day living.

Today was another one of those sleepy days. Ally and I woke up around 7:20 am. (We're such slackers.) Having no car and wanting to be somewhere air-conditioned, I decided to take Ally on a bus adventure to the mall. We caught the Ben Franklin just outside our complex and, 45 minutes and 2 transfers later, we arrived safely at the Columbia Center Mall. Ally has always loved public transportation, and today was no exception. She pointed out the windows and giggled and chatted and made some new friends. I loved the trip, too, but for different reasons: 1) Ally loved it. 2) We got out of the house. 3) We kept cool. (Did I mention it's been over 100 around here lately?) 4) We didn't get lost 'cause the system is easy to navigate. 5) It's cheap to ride and 6) Going to the mall on a whim is still a novelty. Ally and I even found our way back home again and didn't have to call Daddy to come and fetch us. Hooray! for independent women.
Tonight we decided to spend some family time in our complex pool. So, here is a picture of our little swimmer in her faithful blow-up dolphin. I need to buy her more things that float. . .