Look at this site first. I'll fill in the gaps once we're living there and I have time to organize my thoughts.

Here are some of our photos.


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And that's just The Commons...

We went to Freedom Field on Thursday. I wouldn't have known about it, except for this web page.


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It was a dream of a couple moms that came true in 2006. 1.5 acres of equal access playground with a toddler area. Brilliant and a lot of fun for everyone. It sure didn't hurt to have construction equipment zipping by as they added more soccer fields.


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We had a great time.


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This week is National Fire Safety Week. The city fire department hosts a Touch-A-Truck event every year for preschools to commemorate it. Today was the day.

This was what we walked into.


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We got on the bus. (ColumBUS is the name of the bus system.)


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Climbed in a fire truck. (A Ladder truck)


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Learned a Trade. I mean, operated a Front End Loader.


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Messed around in a snow plow.


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And got lost in the crowd.


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(And that's from 1/3 in looking back.)

I told Nik earlier, that this town of 44,000 people seems to have 20,000 preschoolers. They were coming from all over.

The busiest when we left was the Dolly Madison Bakery truck. They were giving out donuts which appears to trump candy. They let the kids lay on the horns of the ambulances all day (9-11:30am, anyway) and it really was getting to a lot of kids. Even 100 yards away, I wished I had brought ear plugs for both of us.

But it was really great, and I got to snap some photos of the skate park we had to walk by. I'll let Nik comment on that when he rides the rails.


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In Saturday's newspaper, a woman interviewed about the downtown improvements said that the city should really do something for the kids like "paint a swing". She obviously has no idea just how much is here for the kids. And if she turns and says that the Seniors need soemthing, they have a $7.8 million senior center next to the brand new bus station. Since you can call the bus system and have them pick you up (I think it's free for seniors) there's no excuse for complaining.

Did I say that the city has lass than 50,000 people in it?

This Touch-A-Truck event was essentially behind our house. If we scaled a 40 foot cliff, crossed a field and two areas of woods and then ford a creek, we'd be in the middle of the action and have to get back up that dang hill. But we could hear everything from our living room.

Great post Ben! I've hit that park many years ago, and it was in pretty bad shape... Will definitely check it out again this Saturday.

I also need to add the photos I took when we came up. Thanks again for that. Columbus is definitely on our radar for some 'new roots.'

That looks like one happy and engaged kid. You live in a cool place, Ben.

And it continues.

We had a really nice housewarming party on Saturday. The neighbors stopped by as did my wife's family and some friends from Fort Wayne. My guest was a local guy who is a member of the beer club. One funny thing was that all of the people who RSVPd on Facebook ended up cancelling. Nik wasn't the only sicky.

But two of those RSVPs were my mother and her sister. They had something come up on Saturday. I think it was a banquet for my dad's long-timer club at work. But they decided to come on Sunday and stay through Monday, Columbus Day.

We spent Monday touring the downtown. You've seen most of what we did already. But we had The Commons all to ourselves. That meant that with Great Aunt Linda (known to the boys as Grinda) feeling limber, we let them ascend the climbing sculpture, "The Lucky Climber".


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But then we went to the Visitors Center, which has to be the nicest community Visitors Center I've seen. They have the architectural drawings and models from a lot of the famous buildings in town. The one that excited the boys was...


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The Indoor Playground!

Then we walked a couple miles around town, stopping in at the Cummins Corporate HQ. They have something of a museum in the lobby. The notable art is called Exploded Engine.


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But they have some Cummins Indy cars and even an Auburn (made up where we used to live).


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We ended up the loop with a stop to play with the dog at the Hotel Indigo and then lunch at Zaharakos (Nik's been there with TheBoy) for a full day.

I got almost 10,000 steps in. I expect that our route took us about 3 miles. All flat. But it was a great day for it.

Have I said that I like living here?

So, now, it looks like Cummins (the major employer here) has had a task force to improve transportation in the community. And we're not talking bus service. They've got a company starting public charter service to Detroit three days a week starting November 1. What this means is that my kids' first flight won't be through a major international terminal, nor an empty smelly regional airport. The service advertises 5 minutes from check-in to on the plane, First-Class service, and 30 passenger jets. Since we have already had plans to be in Detroit three or four times a year already, this is fabulous. (of course we don't yet know how much it's going to cost.)

The boys are spoiled by this move, I tell you.

Here's a fresh review of kidscommons.

If you sign up and win the prize, send it to Nik! He goes as much as I do!