Old Stomping Grounds

It's been about four months since we no longer call Zinfandel Village Apartments, in Rancho Cordova our home. But last week, we got a call from Zinfandel Village management, letting us know a package had arrived. So we headed off to our old stomping grounds.

As we were headed to the apartment office, we walked past the pool, and Phoenix kept asking if we were going swimming. Sadly, I had to tell him we were not going swimming, and that we were just there to "visit the office." As we approached the office door, the manager came to greet us, and gave us our package as I stood by the door while Phoenix was looking at flowers outside. We lingered a few minutes while I caught up with the manager on all things Phoenix. We said our goodbyes and were headed off to our next errand, or were we?!

Phoenix insisted that we head to the apartment playground. So, I agreed, as he led the way. He knew exactly how to get there. Once there, I was convinced to keep playing with him, as I managed to snap a few pictures and videos of him in between. I could tell he felt confident and proud of how well he could maneuver himself around the playground. I too was a proud momma, (though I still get nervous and am cautious about him falling) as I could observe the improvement in his motor skill development in a span of just a few months.

But playground fun had to come to an end at some point, as we had many more errands to run that day. If you're a parent,  or a childcare provider, you may know too well about how hard it can be leaving a playground. It's a "hard life" for kiddos. I find myself saying, "uno mas" more than one time before we actually leave. But we were finally able to leave. 

As we left, we headed towards our old apartment. We walked by it, and I kept wondering if he would walk towards our old apartment or show some kind of acknowledgement towards it, but he didn't.  He only pointed out the bird feeder hanging from the tree in front of it. Then he kept walking by as if we had never lived there. Part of me was surprised, but part of me was relieved, as if we had really closed an old chapter of our lives, and were really living our new chapter.